


The Privilege of Partial Perspective

by lesbian_geek_spiral



Series: Seizing Our Bodies [2]
Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/F, Fluff, Romance, Sequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-23
Updated: 2017-03-09
Packaged: 2018-07-16 19:35:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 89,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7281907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbian_geek_spiral/pseuds/lesbian_geek_spiral
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With a little help from Delphine, Cosima has escaped from her prison at DYAD. Trying to hide from those who kept her locked up, they will have to work together to find a cure for Cosima, while dealing with everyday clone drama at the same time.</p><p>This is the sequel to <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/4816643/chapters/11027843">Parallelism Between the Effects of Changed Conditions of Life</a>, exploring the au in which Katja never managed to tell the North-American clones about their origin, and Cosima was living an unaware life with Delphine in San Francisco until she became sick and her monitor handed her to her creators for an experimental treatment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Cosima +27

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, I’m back with a sequel. The overwhelmingly kind comments made the decision to continue very easy. I enjoyed a little time off, and I’m full of excited energy to keep on writing. Since the end of season four was a week ago, I figured this would be the perfect moment to start uploading again.
> 
> Before you read the rest of this, know that you should read [Parallelism Between the Effects of Changed Conditions of Life](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4816643/chapters/11027843), first. That is not even optional; you won’t get at all what is going on in this fic if you don’t read that story first.
> 
> That said; this fic is constructed in a very similar way. We will get started with a flash forward, and then continue where we ended last time. The chapters will alternate between Cosima and Delphine’s pov. The numbers will indicate the number of days before or after Cosima’s escape, so the last chapter of the previous fic would be day 0.
> 
> I’m aware that I seem to have gained a reputation for the science, as well as for posting very punctually. Obviously I’m proud of this, and will do my very best to live up to this reputation. I intend to update weekly again, but this fic will be quite long (35 chapters, if I estimated it correctly). Since I have a vague, yet busy schedule for the next year or so, I cannot make any promises on the regular updating schedule aside from I’ll do my very best, for I might be far from places with internet for prolonged periods. I will try to let you know in advance when there won’t be updates for a while, and please do know that I will do my very best not to not update regularly and won’t stray from that unless I have a good reason.
> 
> The rating will be mature for similar reasons as for part one. If you were okay with that fic, you should be fine with this as well. I will put a note with a warning at the top of chapters that I think might contain unpleasant triggers, of course you can always let me know if you are worried about anything specific.
> 
> Also, I will keep translating any French beyond a few basic words that we all know. As I have said before: French (and English) isn’t my first language, so if you see any errors in that please let me know. Of course I will explain the science, because I enjoy it, and just because it is fanfic doesn’t mean you can’t learn something from it. I’m still struggling with finding a balance between over-explaining parts, and not explaining well enough. This might be because of my own scientific background (which is nowhere near evo-devo, immunology, or human cloning), as well as the fact that I don’t know what you know, since you all have very different ages, interests, and (educational) backgrounds. So, if you would like me to elaborate on something, or if you think I made a mistake, please let me know.
> 
> Once again, thank you [suyurisan](http://archiveofourown.org/users/suyurisan) for being the most amazing beta-reader! And thank you to all those who read and/or commented on part one. I’ve read your input, and did not change anything about this fic. Some of it might be in there, some of it might not be. Either way, I hope you enjoy it, and I’d love to hear what you think of this continuation. I’m always looking to improve, so gimme all the feedback. Also, I am always open for requests and suggestions, here and on [Tumblr](http://salixsericea.tumblr.com/). Sorry for the insanely long note, I usually don’t leave such long ramblings; so don’t worry about it happening again, I will just focus on the story from now on. This note should have covered all I need to tell you before you get to reading. Enjoy!

The smoke danced above Cosima’s face. It curled and twisted in ever-changing patterns. A draft in the room pushed it to the right. The heat current pulled it upwards, towards the ceiling. Eddies of dark grey smoke never reached further than a few feet from Cosima’s face before they disappeared into nothingness.

Sluggishly, Cosima reached out for the curls, sitting up slightly in the process.

“Oi, sit still!” Felix yelled at her.

“Hmm,” Cosima dropped back onto the couch. She was propped up against a couple of large pillows, her clothes messy, and her dreadlocks loose. Her glasses where removed by Felix, who had complained about them being too complicated. “Can I have a drink, at least?” Cosima asked.

“Yeah, just don’t move those bloody dreadlocks, please,” Felix said.

Without lifting her head, Cosima reached for her glass on the floor next to the couch. She took a small sip from it, but still managed to spill some of water. Drinking while lying almost flat was quite hard at the best of times, and the excessive amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol in her system made her eye-hand coordination even worse than it usually was. A couple of cool drops ran down her cheek, across her neck and disappeared onto the pillow below her.

After she had set the glass back down, Cosima took another drag from the joint in her right hand. It was almost finished, and not her first of the night. If she were here, Delphine would not approve of Cosima smoking, and certainly not of her smoking so much. Frowning, Cosima wondered when she had last seen Delphine smoke. It must have been before the stuff at DYAD had happened. And even when Cosima had been locked up there, Delphine had never smelled like smoke. She must have quit a long time ago, without ever telling Cosima. 

“How long is this going to take, Fee?”

“Darling,” Felix said. He peeked around the canvas on the easel. “Art takes time.” Ignoring Cosima’s protests, he continued working. Paint was spattered everywhere. Several pieces of cardboard on which he had smeared and mixed colours where littered around him. The music was turned up all the way, and sounded exotic to Cosima.

She was glad that she could not see clearly without her glasses. Felix liked to paint wearing nothing but an apron, and he was very comfortable being naked around other people. It was not as if that bothered Cosima so much, but she had no desire to watch Felix’ naked behind every time her turned around to get more paint.

A few weeks ago, when they had just met, Felix had told Cosima that she had to let him paint her. He had shown her the paintings he had made of his sister, of Alison, and of Beth. Each of them in his own distinct style, and personalized to fit each of their personalities creepily accurately. At first, Cosima had been hesitant to pose for a painting, but the idea of having a real painting of herself was enough to sway her to promise him that she would pose someday.

Apparently, today was someday. Cosima had not expected it to take so long. She had been lying still on this couch for hours, and it was starting to bore her. “Felix,” she whined. “This is taking forever.” At first, posing for a painting had seemed like a nice distraction, but it had quickly turned out to be nothing but lying still for hours, alone with her thoughts. And Felix was not helping; he did not say anything at all to Cosima.

Felix groaned. “Fine. Five more minutes, then you can leave.”

Cosima closed her eyes. That was better than she had hoped for; in the past weeks she had observed Felix painting for hours on end. He would get in some sort of a trance, often helped with drugs, alcohol, and loud music, and paint without paying attention to anything beyond his subject.

Slowly, Cosima finished her smoke. It tickled in her throat and lungs. She was too relaxed to find the urge to cough it away. Lazily, she blew at the last of the smoke dangling in front of her face. It twisted and flew away, faded in the blurry distance.

“Okay, I’m done,” said Felix.

Cosima pulled herself up from the couch. She dropped the leftover of her joint in her empty glass. Cosima found her glasses and pushed them up her nose. Swaying slightly, she made her way to the other side of the easel. “Wow,” she said, her hand resting on Felix’ bare arm.

Of course Felix must have seen her face a lot during his life, and especially in the last year. Several versions of it, up close and from all angles. Still, Cosima was impressed at how wonderfully he had managed to capture her likeliness, as well as Cosima’s unique personality.

“I’m obviously not finished yet," he said.

“You’re not?” It looked very much done to Cosima. The still wet oil paint on the canvas showed Cosima draped onto the same couch she had been lying on earlier. Her colourful clothes flowed around her. The dreadlocks and smoke curled around her face, emphasizing her eyes even more. It seemed as if that was the only part of the painting that was completely in focus. However, the most surprising part to Cosima was that her painted clone was wearing a lab coat, which she had not done in months. It made her slightly homesick. It made the painting that much more Cosima. “Dude, it is awesome.”

Felix dropped his brushes in one of the jars of turpentine. “Thanks,” he ran his hand through his hair. “I can finish without you. If you want to leave, that is fine.”

“Right,” Cosima said. She walked over to the stacks of paintings in one of the corners. Felix had shown her where he had hidden the paintings he had made of the other clones, behind several other paintings of seemingly random portraits. “Did they pose as well?” Cosima asked. She coughed in her elbow, as she browsed through the paintings to find the ones of her sister.

“Huh,” Felix peeked around the canvas. “Oh, yeah. Sarah often posed for me when we were growing up. I learned anatomy by sketching her,” he said.

“Really?” Cosima grinned, picturing a teenage punk Sarah, posing for a slightly younger Felix with big dreams of becoming an artist.

“Yeah, of course,” Felix said. He cleaned a brush on his apron. “I would pay her. Mrs. S. got totally pissed at me for it when she found out.”

Cosima laughed. That sounded like the Siobhan she knew. In her hands was the painting of Sarah. It was obvious that Felix knew his sister very well; the painting screamed Sarah.

“She did not pose for that specific painting though,” Felix said. “She was a little too busy at the time.” He took a swig from his beer. “Ah well, I’m terribly familiar with her face. Your face.”

Smiling, Cosima flipped to the next painting. It was Alison, holding a bottle of Chablis and a soccer ball. Even though each of the clones were solid images of paint on canvas, Alison seemed to be much more stiff than Sarah and Cosima.

“Alison did pose,” Felix said when he saw what Cosima was looking at now.

With a nod, Cosima peeked behind Alison’s painting. The blue so dark it was almost black, and it highlighted the yellow light in front of which Beth was standing. Cocking her head, Cosima stared at her sister for a moment. It was such a sad painting, capturing Beth’s mood perfectly.

Cosima carefully laid the canvases back against the wall, stacking them against each other without damaging anything. Suddenly, she was tired. She was sore, and she was sad. Cosima walked back to the couch, and slumped down in the same spot.

Felix did not catch the sudden change in his guest’s mood. He was in the bathroom, washing some of the paint from his arms. Singing loudly, he hung his apron from the showerhead and pulled a pair of pants on. While he was fumbling with the zipper, he exited the bathroom. “Let’s go down to Bobbie’s for,” he said, stopping halfway in his sentence when he saw Cosima. “Hey, what is wrong?”

“Sorry,” Cosima said. She had not meant to break down so suddenly. She had not even seen it coming, but all of the sudden she found herself crying. With a trembling bottom lip, she looked up at Felix. “Where did she go, Felix?” she asked. The tears were streaming down her face.

“Oh, Cosima,” Felix said. He quickly pulled a shirt on, and sat down next to her. “I don’t know, love.” He wrapped his arm around her.

“Ugh,” Cosima groaned, and laid her head down on his shoulder. He smelled of sweat, paint, turpentine, and pot. A comforting smell, one that Cosima had become intimately familiar with over the last couple of weeks. Today, it did not help her. For almost a week now, she had been waiting impatiently, trying not to let her worry show too much. But it was too hard a task. In the last six days, Cosima had not heard from Delphine. Nobody had. She had simply walked out the door. “When will she come back?”

“I don’t know,” Felix said. He took hold of Cosima, shaking her softly. “Look, maybe she just couldn’t handle it anymore. Maybe you should move on, good riddance.” Felix tried to get Cosima to look at him. “I mean, going out to buy a pack of cigarettes and not returning is such a classic move,” he said, clearly insinuating that Delphine had abandoned her.

“I refuse to believe that!” Cosima yelled at him. The mere though that Delphine had left her infuriated Cosima. Running from problems, from Cosima, was simply not in Delphine’s nature. “She wouldn’t do that to me,” Cosima said, her lip trembling as she looked up at Felix.

“Oh, honey,” Felix said. He wrapped Cosima in his arms, rocking her softly.

Even though she did not want to believe it, all the signs did point Cosima in that direction. Delphine had stormed out after a huge fight. No, it was worse than that; in the heat of an argument, Cosima had yelled at Delphine to leave. Cosima had not meant for Delphine to never return, but perhaps Delphine had misunderstood. Or worse, maybe something had happened to her. After all, all her belongings were still in Felix’s loft, including her phone.

At first, Cosima had been mad at Delphine. After a couple of hours, when Delphine still had not returned, Cosima had become anxious. But now, after a couple of days, it was getting harder to hide the fact that she was plain terrified that something had happened to Delphine. What other reason could there be for her to just leave Cosima without even an _au revoir?_  


	2. Delphine 0

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that was the end of the flash forward. We will now return to where we left our gals last time: on the run from DYAD.
> 
> There are small burn wounds and some minor DIY medial procedures in this chapter. A huge thank you to Suyurisan for helping me with the medical procedures.

Pulled into the brightly lit establishment by a very determined clone, Delphine tried to adjust to the sudden change of situation. Where she had firmly believed that she was rescuing Cosima from the torture of the experimental treatment, now she was suddenly being saved by Cosima from the same predicament. 

Delphine knew that it would be stupid to stay here; by being near Cosima, she would only endanger the clone further. Her plan had originally been to get the sick subject into the safe arms of her sisters, and hide her far from the DYAD institute. After that, Delphine would try and lure the pursuers away from their goal. That plan had been changed significantly when Cosima had somehow managed to break out of her cell, and had alarmed the guards during her attempt to find an exit.

Knowing their pursuers could not be far away, Delphine felt an awful urge to run and at least keep to the final part of her plan. It was her need to be absolutely sure that Cosima was safe that kept her from walking away. This, and the knowledge that Cosima would not let her go without another lengthy discussion, if Cosima would let her go at all, kept Delphine from pulling her arm free and leaving the clone in, what she hoped, were safe hands.

Cosima had stopped a few steps away from the entrance. She had pulled the tank of oxygen close to her, and was taking her surroundings in.

Delphine stood close to her, and looked around the bar as well. Almost all the seats were occupied with people laughing and drinking. They were talking loudly and did not look up at the two women who had just entered. The small room was warm, heated by the many bodies. The damp air smelled of beer and human bodies. Everything considered, it looked just like an average bar.

Frowning, Cosima removed her hand from Delphine’s arm and adjusted her glasses. She scanned the faces in the animated crowd, searching for a familiar face.

Standing a little taller, Delphine did the same thing. She did not recognise anybody. A few people glanced in their direction, especially at Cosima with her cannula and lack of shoes. Yet, none of the people in the room seemed to be particularly interested in either of the two women standing in front of the door.

“Where are they?” Cosima asked, looking up at Delphine.

Worried, Delphine replied, “I don’t know. Beth told me she would be waiting for you here.” The only reason Beth would not be waiting for her sister was if she no longer trusted Delphine and had decided not to show up at all. If she had been held up, she surely would have let Delphine know. While Delphine was already trying to form another emergency plan and figure out where they could go, Cosima made her way to the bar.

Not wanting to stray too far from Cosima, Delphine made her way through the tight space between the tables and people. The suitcase she was still carrying slowed her down. It was not large, it would be allowed as carry-on luggage at most airlines, but the wheels repeatedly got caught behind chairs and feet.

When Delphine finally had finally caught up with Cosima at the bar, the clone had already caught the attention of the barkeeper. After putting down an order in front of a couple sitting at the other side of the bar, she walked over to Cosima. Her tough appearance, sporting a faux mohawk and several tattoos, had Delphine wonder again whether they were at the right address. Perhaps this was a simple miscommunication, and Beth had meant for them to meet somewhere else.

“Hey,” the barkeeper said. She leaned over the bar, her face close to Cosima’s so she would not have to yell over the noise of the room, and said, “You must be Cosima.”

Cosima nodded. “Uh, yeah,” she answered, looking at Delphine for reassurance.

Delphine shrugged, she had no way of knowing whether they could trust this person. Beth had said that she would be waiting in the bar herself, but this stranger seemed to be expecting Cosima, and knew what she would look like. Delphine leaned a little closer, so she could hear the conversation better.

The barkeeper glanced at Delphine, clearly not having expected her. She then decided to ignore her, and turned back at Cosima. “’Kay, sit down. I’ll call her, just hang on for a couple of minutes,” she said, and smiled brightly. “Can I get you anything while you wait? Maybe a towel or something?” She gestured at Cosima’s face.

“Hmm?” Cosima did not understand what the blonde woman behind the bar was referring to; she had forgotten her violent coughing attack in the basement corridors of the DYAD institute less than an hour ago. There was still some dried up blood in the corners of her mouth, and some more speckled on her cheeks and hands where she had tried to wipe it away. “Oh, shit. Yeah, thank you. And maybe some water,” Cosima said once she had realized she looked like vampire; pale and bloody.

Delphine sat down on one of the barstools, so that she could keep an eye on the door, as well as the barkeeper. Chewing her bottom lip, she glanced around the room again. On the other end of the bar, the blonde woman was making a quick call. The barkeeper nodded at Cosima after she hung up.

Without saying anything, Cosima sat down next to Delphine. She looked at Delphine, her head slightly tilted and clearly contemplating something. With a frown she shook her head and sighed deeply.

Just when Delphine was about to ask her what was bothering her, a question that sounded even silly before being asked out loud, the barkeeper returned with the promised towel and a glass of water. “There you go. Somebody will be here in a few, just sit tight,” she said, with a reassuring smile.

“Right, thank you,” Cosima said.

Delphine smiled politely, watching the barkeeper closely as she went to take an order from the people next to them. Without looking at Cosima, she pulled her phone out of her pocket, checking for a message from Beth. There was nothing, yet the whole situation made Delphine very uncomfortable; there had to be something wrong. “I am worried about Beth, she was supposed to be here,” Delphine told Cosima.

Cosima nodded. “Yes, me too. But I’m sure we will get a good explanation as soon as she gets here,” she said.

“But what if she was caught by DYAD?” Delphine whispered. “What if something is wrong?”

Frowning deeply, Cosima looked at the door. “There is nothing we can do about that now,” she said. “I’m sure she’s fine. She just tends to be a little late sometimes. Apparently that is genetic.” She smiled, and dipped the tip of the towel in the water, and awkwardly cleaned her face with her left hand, as the other rested on her lap underneath the bar.

“Here, let me,” Delphine offered. She held her hand up for Cosima to give her the towel. After Cosima gave it to her, Delphine gently washed the red specks off Cosima’s face. “There, that looks much better,” she said, smiling at Cosima.

“Thanks,” Cosima said, and readjusted the cannula. 

Uncomfortable on the hard stool, and fretful about their uncertain situation, Delphine said nothing. She chewed on her lip, waiting silently next to Cosima.

Before too long, a young man stepped between them, so that Delphine could no longer see Cosima, only the back of his coat. “Hey, you’re just the person I’m looking for,” he said with a thick British accent.

From behind him, Delphine could hear Cosima say, “Uhm, I don’t think so. I am waiting for somebody else.”

“Yeah, she’s been held up,” he said. “Please, come with me, Cosima.”

Delphine stood up and walked around him, as he was completely ignoring her. She stood behind Cosima, and had a good look at him. 

He had dark hair, was heavily made up, and had brightly coloured paint on his hand resting on the bar. His dark coat reached to his knees, and below it he wore leather pants and heavy combat boots. While Delphine looked at him, he stared her up and down, looking increasingly judgemental. “What are you doing here?” he asked.

“I told her to stay, okay,” Cosima said defensively. “Who are you? How do I know I can trust you?” she asked.

The man groaned, he slammed the bar with his hand and whispered, “Just one, I’m a few. No family too. Who am I?”

Cosima glanced at Delphine, and with a soft smile she pulled herself up from her stool. She leaned over to the stranger, and whispered something in his ear Delphine could not hear.

Satisfied with what Cosima had told him, he said, “All right. Now that we got that out of the way, if you’d please follow me.” He made a grand gesture with his hand, pointing them both at the door and took off.

Cosima nodded. “It is okay, we can trust him,” she told Delphine. She took her oxygen tank and followed the stranger outside.

Delphine followed more reluctantly. Alison had asked her the same riddle a while ago, and she had not trusted Delphine as soon as it became clear that the French woman had not known the answer. Even then, Delphine had concluded that it must be some password between the clones to know whom they could trust. Still, neither Cosima nor Delphine knew this man, or why he was here instead of Beth. While she followed Cosima into an alley around the bar, her heart was pounding in her chest, and Delphine wondered whether they were doing the right thing, trusting this stranger.

He led them into a very dimly lit building, and down a corridor adorned with the wildest graffiti. A sour smell and loud music seemed to come at them from all sides. Delphine walked just behind Cosima, and looked over her shoulder every few seconds.

As uncomfortable as Delphine was, Cosima did not seem to be afraid at all. She followed the man, who still had not introduced himself, all the way up to the stairs.

He got up the first step, and then looked back at them. “Oh, will you be okay?” he asked Cosima, motioning at the oxygen tank. “It is three flights of stairs, can you do that?”

“Yeah,” Cosima nodded, though she was not enthusiastic about the prospect of that many steps. “I’ll be fine. Lead the way.”

Delphine softly took Cosima by her arm. “Are you sure?” she asked.

Cosima nodded.

“Not the stairs. Him,” Delphine said. “Are you sure about him?”

Cosima nodded again, and gripped the railing. She followed the stranger up the stairs.

Quickly, Delphine caught up with her. Without saying a word, she took the heavy oxygen tank from Cosima. Carrying it in one hand, and the small suitcase in the other, she followed closely behind the clone.

At the top of the third flight of stairs, Cosima took her oxygen tank back. Here she could easily drag it behind her again. “Thank you,” she said, clearly out of breath. 

“Ladies, over here.” To their right, the guy from the bar disappeared through a sliding door.

Inside, Delphine and Cosima found a large, loft style apartment. The furniture was colourful and mismatching, easels, brushes, paint, and paintings scattered around the wide space. The walls were covered in all sorts of graffiti, and a strong smell of chemicals and weed greeted them.

“Welcome,” the guy said, standing in a corner that seemed to contain most of the glasses, food, and other things one might find in a kitchen. “My name is Felix, by the way.” He held out his hand for Cosima.

She walked over to him, avoiding a pile of clothes on the floor. “Hi Felix, I’m Cosima,” she answered, shaking his hand with her left. “And this is Delphine.”

“Yeah, I knew that already,” he answered. “You want a drink? Sit down.” He gestured at the couch.

Cosima nodded and sank down on the couch.

Delphine took her coat off, draping over the back of the couch when she did not see a coat rack of sorts. A few of the easels seemed to serve as such, but she did not want to ruin any of the intriguing, yet mildly disturbing paintings, by hanging her coat over the wrong easel. She sat down on Cosima’s right side, and gently took Cosima’s right hand in her own. “What happened to your hand?” she asked.

“Uhm, I kinda got myself burned when I escaped,” Cosima said. She flexed her hand, grimacing at the movement.

“Why did you not say anything?” Delphine exclaimed. She lifted Cosima’s hand towards better light. The fingertips of her index and middle finger had black spots on them, which seemed to be plastic. An angry blister appeared just below it, on the outer side of her index finger, and up to the second knuckle the skin was bright red. When Delphine turned the hand over, she saw a similar wound, a little smaller, on top of Cosima’s wrist.

Cosima groaned at Delphine’s movement. “I, I was kinda busy escaping. It is not that bad.”

“Hmm, these look like second degree burns, Cosima,” Delphine said. “You should have said something earlier. That plastic needs to be removed.”

“Ow, that looks painful.” Felix returned with three glasses and a bottle. “Drinks first?” he asked, and without waiting for an answer he filled the glasses. He took one of the glasses and leaned back in his chair.

Cosima pulled her right hand free so she could reach for one of the glasses on the table with her left. She took a long drink from it, and then asked Felix, “Can you now please tell us where Beth is?”

“Yeah,” he said. “I think it is better if she explains that herself tomorrow.” He downed his drink. “You girls look exhausted, and I gotta go. But she will be here in the morning, and update you on the whole situation.” Felix gave Delphine a long look before turning back to Cosima. “Are you sure we can trust her?”

Cosima shrugged. “She helped me escape.”

“Hmm, but she is also the one that got you in there.”

Delphine opened her mouth to speak, but Cosima interrupted her. “We need some answers, she can tell us a lot. She is valuable, for now.”

“Okay, if you say so. But I am leaving. You two can stay here and do whatever,” Felix said. He stood up and pulled his coat back on. “Make yourselves at home. If you need anything, my number is in here.” He pulled a phone out of the pocket of the jacket and dropped it in on the couch next to Cosima. “Bye bye,” he said, and before they could thank him he had left through the sliding door.

Cosima leaned back into the couch and closed her eyes. “Now what?” she asked softly.

“ _Je ne sais pas,_ ” Delphine said. She picked the third glass up and took a long drink from the undiluted bourbon. She looked back at Cosima, who seemed to be falling asleep already. Delphine wanted nothing more than to follow her example, but Cosima with her sore body and breathing issues would need to lie down properly, in a bed. And that hand would need to be taken care of. Then they could rest, and hopefully things would look a little brighter in the morning. “Don’t fall asleep yet,” Delphine said.

“Hmm, no.” Cosima opened her eyes. “I’m awake.”

“Let me take care of that hand, then you can go to bed,” Delphine said.

Cosima wrinkled her nose. She groaned and reluctantly sat upright. She held out her hand to Delphine.

Careful not to touch the wounds, Delphine took the hand. She had another look at it, this time not distracted by Felix. “What happened, Cosima? What is the black stuff?” she asked.

“Oh, umh. That is the lock thing, I kinda blew it up,” Cosima said with a proud grin.

“What?”

“To escape, I blew up the electronic lock,” Cosima explained. “It totally worked, but when I tried to open the door, I touched it too soon and burned myself.” She grimaced at Delphine, who was staring back at her with an open mouth.

“Wow,” Delphine was slightly stunned. Her superiors had kept anything that might be used as a weapon from Cosima; how the clone had managed to blow a hole in the keypad was beyond Delphine. “How did you make a fire?” she asked. It was not important right now, but Delphine was inherently curious, and Cosima’s brilliance never ceased to amaze her.

“Static electricity,” Cosima stated, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Is there anything you can do about that, because it hurts like hell?”

Delphine nodded. She would have to get the plastic out, and that would hurt. “Wait here,” she said. Leaving Cosima sitting on the couch, Delphine started poking around the room. Separated from the main area with nothing more than a bead curtain was a bathroom. On the shelves and in the small cabinet under the sink, Delphine found plenty of toiletries, make-up, razors, empty toilet paper rolls, and a pile of condoms. Digging through all this and more, she did not find any first aid supplies besides Band-Aids and a couple of loose painkillers. Inspecting one of the pills a little closer, Delphine decided not to give them to Cosima. Though she was almost certain that they would eliminate the pain, the side effects might be undesired.

In a cup on one of the shelves, Delphine found a pair of tweezers. They would have to do, if only she had something to sterilise them with. Walking past Cosima, who had laid her head back down on the back of the couch, Delphine went straight to the kitchen. She filled a large pot with water, set it on the stove, and dropped the instrument in it.

While she waited for it to boil, Delphine looked at Cosima. The clone’s eyes were closed, and she was breathing slowly through her nose. Her glasses were resting on the table in front of her.

Chewing on her bottom lip, Delphine wondered what they would do next. The steel tweezers being sterilised with boiling water were the most advanced medical instruments they had at the moment. How were they ever going to find a permanent cure for Cosima under these circumstances?

“Dude, can you chill? I can hear you worry all the way from the other side of the room,” Cosima said. She looked over her shoulder at Delphine. “If he was going to hand us back to DYAD, they would already be here by now.”

Delphine nodded. She had not even thought about that possibility. “Hmm, yes. You’re right,” she said. There was no point in worrying about it now. “Can you come over here, please?” she asked Cosima. The light in the kitchen was a little brighter. She turned the heat off, and carried the pan to the counter. In a last attempt to find anything better than boiled water to clean Cosima’s wounds with, Delphine searched the cupboards and shelves in the kitchen.

With exaggerated difficulty, Cosima got up from the couch and joined Delphine. She sat down on one of the stools. “What are you looking for?” she asked.

“Something to clean those wounds with,” Delphine answered.

Cosima tilted her head. “Isn’t the boiled water good enough?”

“I was hoping to find some iodine, or maybe some ethanol,” Delphine said. “I can’t find either. I guess water is going to have to do.” Delphine gave up on searching, and washed her hands in the sink. 

Behind her, Cosima got up from her seat. Glancing over her shoulder, Delphine could just see Cosima rummaging through the piles of paint, and jars with brushes. “Ah, I thought so,” Cosima exclaimed. She returned to Delphine, and with a triumphant look on her face she set a brown bottle next to the sink. “This should do it.”

Delphine smiled. “Hydrogen peroxide? Yes, that should do it.” She shook the water from her hands, and motioned for Cosima to stand in front of the sink.

Cosima took a step closer and held her hand over the sink for Delphine. She winced slightly when the doctor irrigated the wounds on her hand with the hydrogen peroxide, but she did not protest.

Quickly, Delphine fished the tweezers out of the now lukewarm water. With her left hand she held Cosima’s right hand still over the sink, and with her other hand, Delphine plucked the plastic out of the wounds.

Grimacing, Cosima watched Delphine work. She did not say anything, but it must hurt her a great deal.

“Sorry,” Delphine said after removing the last piece from Cosima’s fingertip.

“It is fine, really. It is my own fault,” Cosima said, smiling at Delphine.

Delphine nodded. “Let me clean it up for you,” she said. Without waiting for an answer, she irrigated the wound once more with the hydrogen peroxide, and then guided Cosima to the almost cold water in the pan. 

While Cosima washed her own hand, Delphine had another look around the loft. Next to the bed, she found an unopened box of tissues. It was better than the cloth towels she had seen the bathroom. With the tissues, Delphine returned to Cosima.

The clone was finished washing her hand, and was looking at the now cleaned wounds.

Delphine still did not understand exactly what had happened, but now that the black plastic was gone, Cosima’s hand did not look as bad as before. It would heal fine within a few days. “It will be fine in a few days,” Delphine said.

“I know,” Cosima said. “Thank you.”

“Come here.” Delphine held out her hand for Cosima. When Cosima put her hand in Delphine’s, the doctor very carefully dried the hand. She patted the water off the wound, trying her very best to not hurt Cosima more than necessary. “There you go,” Delphine said. She smiled at Cosima, “That is the best I can do for you right now. It should heal just fine. But please, tell me if your pain increases.”

Cosima nodded. She gave Delphine a brave smile and said, “I’m going to bed. I’m exhausted.” She moved to stand up, giving Delphine a quick squeeze on her shoulder with her good hand. Leaving Delphine in the kitchen, Cosima staggered towards the bed. She did not bother with removing her clothes; she just lied down and closed her eyes.

Quietly, Delphine turned the lights off, and locked the door before she went to check on Cosima. The clone was already in a deep slumber, and did not react. Delphine removed Cosima’s glasses and set them down next to her. She pulled the blanket over the clone, and made sure that the cannula was not twisted. When she was assured that Cosima would sleep comfortably, Delphine turned the last light off. 

In the almost complete darkness, she stumbled towards the couch. Under a spare blanket, Delphine fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Je ne sais pas._ = I don’t know.
> 
> Hydrogen peroxide, or H2O2, is often used for its sanitising purposes. Painters use it for the colour distortion (a redox reaction with some of the compounds of oil paint). It is especially good for forging old paintings, but can also be used for awesome effects when making original art.
> 
> Last but not least, please don’t burn yourself! And if you do, don’t go picking debris out of wounds yourself! Find a medical professional. Yes, Delphine is a doctor, I know, I mean one with proper medical equipment at their disposal. Do as I say, not as I do.


	3. Cosima +1

Cosima sat down in the scalding hot water. She leaned back against the porcelain, and closed her eyes with a sigh. Using just her left hand, she had managed to wrap her dreads in a messy bun, keeping them dry. Her right hand bungled over the edge. It was annoyingly painful, reminding Cosima of her own stupid mistake. The wound did not look so bad, the only visual reminder was a red spot on the top of her wrist the size of a strawberry, and the throbbing blisters on two of her fingertips. Delphine had cleaned the wounds for Cosima yesterday, and promised her that they would heal in a couple of days.

Glancing through the doorway, Cosima saw Delphine lying on the couch. She was still fast asleep, wrapped in a blanket. Somehow Delphine had not woken when Cosima had run a bath, despite the fact that she was usually a very light sleeper. With a frown, Cosima wondered why Delphine was so tired, and why she had chosen to sleep on the hard couch instead of the huge warm and comfy bed with Cosima.

Cosima slid down a little further under water, so that her lips touched the bubbles. A few months ago she might have found it strange to take a bath in the home of a guy she met yesterday, and had spoken to for lest than ten minutes, but right now it was the most glorious feeling in the world. 

She felt the stress slide out of her body, and for the first time in weeks she felt truly unobserved. A nagging voice, deep at the back of her brain, told Cosima that she would not be able to enjoy this false sense of safety for long. In a little while, Delphine would wake up, and Felix would come back soon, hopefully with Beth. Cosima had a hundred questions for her sister.

With a sudden surge of energy, Cosima started to scrub her body with soap. Finally, she could be comfortable in her nakedness; for a long time she had been hurried and covered herself up as much as possible, knowing that anybody might be observing her. It was a blessing to be alone again, to take as much time as she wanted, and enjoy herself a little.

“Cosima?”

Cosima was jolted out of her trance by her name being yelled loudly.

“Cosima!” Delphine was yelling her name, standing in the middle of the room facing the empty bed. From the odd angle in the bathtub, Cosima could just make out Delphine’s panicked expression as she turned around and searched for her. “Cosima!”

“In here,” Cosima said. “I’m in the bathroom.”

“Oh,” Delphine said, and ran towards the bathroom. “I was worried. I woke up and you were gone, and,” she pushed the beads aside and finally saw that Cosima was sitting in a bath. “Uhm, sorry,” Delphine turned around as soon as she registered that, underneath the thin layer of bubbles Cosima was naked, and the foam did nothing to hide that fact.

“Sorry, I- I did not know,” Delphine stammered from the other side of the curtain.

Cosima pulled the plug from the tub. “That’s fine. Don’t worry about it,” she said. She was clean by now anyway, and she would not enjoy a quiet moment alone any longer if Delphine was making it awkward from the other side of the room.

“Uhm, can I get you anything?” Delphine asked.

“No, thanks,” Cosima answered. She found a towel that looked almost clean, and tried to pat herself dry. It went a little clumsy at first with only her non-dominant hand, but she quickly got a little better at it. 

Once she was no longer dripping, Cosima peeked through the curtain. On the other side of the loft Delphine was making breakfast with her back turned towards the bathroom.

Cosima dashed towards the suitcase. It was standing next to the door, where Delphine must have left it. In it she found a few clothes, roughly her size, but not exactly her taste. Still, it was better than putting the clothes she had worn when she had escaped back on, so Cosima put on the first outfit she found.

“They are your sister’s,” Delphine said from across the room. “From Alison.”

“Ah, that explains a lot,” Cosima said, looking down at the pink vest. She sat down on a stool next to Delphine, and watched her cook.

“How are you feeling?” Delphine asked.

Cosima shrugged. “Same,” she said. She did not feel much worse than yesterday, and she was free. All considered, she could not complain about her situation.

“You are not wearing your cannula,” Delphine said. She stopped for a moment, looking closely at Cosima.

“Yeah, tank ran out of air sometime during the night.”

Delphine frowned at Cosima. “Are you okay like this?”

Cosima nodded. As long as she took things slow, she was fine. The stem-cell treatment had improved her ability to breathe quite a lot; it was a shame she would not be able to get another treatment anytime soon.

“ _Bien,_ ” Delphine said, and offered Cosima a plate.

Hungrily, Cosima started without waiting for Delphine to sit down with her own plate. The buttery French toast was a welcome change after the endless mornings with healthy breakfasts of the same bland oatmeal and fruit.

Across the table from Cosima, Delphine was eating much slower. She was much busier looking around the room, looking at anything besides Cosima. When Cosima had pushed her clean plate aside, and was sipping her coffee, Delphine still had not finished even half of her own breakfast.

“Are you okay?” Cosima asked. She pulled her feet up under her, sitting cross-legged on the small stool.

“Hmm?” Delphine finally looked at Cosima.

“You seem kinda out of it,” Cosima said. “Are you okay?”

Delphine took a bite. “I’m fine. Things just did not really go the way I expected.”

“Yeah,” Cosima said and looked around the room filled with art supplies. “This wasn’t where I was planning on ending up either.”

Slowly, Delphine nodded. “That too.” She poked the rest of her breakfast, and pushed it aside in favour of her own coffee. “I meant, when I first was assigned to monitor you, this was not what I expected,” Delphine said. She did not look at Cosima. Instead, she stared at the cup in her hands.

“Oh,” Cosima did not know how to respond to that confession. In all the hours spent thinking, locked up in that room, she had never once wondered what had moved Delphine to get involved with this whole clone mess in the first place. She had never asked Delphine. “I-”

Before she could continue that sentence, somebody pounded loudly on the door. Both women turned their heads towards the sudden noise.

“Cosima, open up!” a female voice yelled.

Ever so slightly, Cosima’s face lit up. She hopped off her seat and went to open the door. Behind it she saw her own face looking back at her, this time with bangs and an outfit similar to the one Cosima was wearing. “Alison!” Cosima exclaimed. She pulled the other clone inside, and wrapped her arms around her.

Even though they had never met in person, they had often spoken on the phone, and even Skyped a couple of times. It was not as if Cosima had never seen Alison before. Yet, being able to touch her, to wrap her arms around her sister, who, despite the fact that they had never met, was oddly familiar and reassuring in the mess her life had become. 

“Alison,” Cosima said, breaking the hug and holding the clone at arms length, so that she could have a proper look at her face. “Wow, this is awesome.”

“Yes, nice to finally meet you too, Cosima,” Alison smiled. “How are you?”

Cosima shrugged. She did not want to worry her sister by telling her the truth. At the same time, she did not want to lie to her either. So instead, she changed the subject, “Hey, who is this Felix guy?” Cosima closed the door behind Alison, and put the screwdriver back in place. “And where is Beth?”

Alison took her jacket off, and draped it over the back of one of the chairs. “Cosima, we need to talk.”

Cosima’s face fell. Nothing good ever followed a sentence like that. “Uhm, coffee first?” she asked.

“Yes, please.” Alison followed Cosima towards the kitchen, around the corner from the door.

In the kitchen, just out of view from the door, Delphine had been setting the dishes in the sink, and was filling another cup of coffee.

As soon as Alison turned around the corner, she noticed her. “What are you doing here?” she asked, taking a step back. “This was not the deal we made!”

Startled by the sudden outburst, Delphine’s hands shook and spilled the coffee next to the cup. “Ah,” she set the coffee down, and glanced at Alison and Cosima. “I’m sorry.” She turned around to find something to clean the coffee from the table.

“What the fudge? Cosima, this was not the deal,” Alison said to Cosima. “We don’t trust her, and you can’t possibly trust her yourself! She betrayed you. She spied on you and locked you up like a lab-rat to perform experiments on you!” Alison yelled at Cosima.

Tired, Cosima sat down on one of the stools. “Yeah, you’re right Alison. I know,” Cosima avoided looking at Delphine while she tried to explain to Alison. “But she did help me escape. And she knows a lot, okay? We need her. I need her,” Cosima said. “She has answers.”

“This is very wrong,” Alison said, this time a little calmer.

Cosima nodded. “She has answers,” she repeated, and glanced at Delphine, who had cleaned the spilled coffee and pushed a cup towards Alison. “Either way, she can’t go back to them now.”

“I’m sorry Alison,” Delphine said. “I am on your side now.”

Alison folded her arms, and stiffly sat down on the stool furthest from Delphine. “This was not the deal we made.”

“Chill, Alison,” Cosima said. “I told her to come with me.”

Alison huffed at her, and shook her head. 

Uncomfortable, the three women sat in silence and drank their coffee. Cosima looked at her clone and the French doctor on either side of her. Alison was right, and Cosima did not trust Delphine, no matter how much she wanted to. After all Delphine had done, helping her escape had done very little to restore the faith Cosima used to have in her. Yet, if Cosima wanted to find a cure for herself and for her sisters, she would need the help of somebody with the knowledge and skills of Delphine.

“Right, not that I’m not totally enjoying this awkward silence, but I have a ton of questions,” Cosima finally said, turning towards Alison. “First, why are you here and not Beth? No offense, but I was kinda expecting her.”

Alison stared at Delphine. “I will tell you in private,” she said to Cosima without breaking eye contact with Delphine.

Delphine bit her lip. If she was hurt by Alison’s statement, she did not let it show. “I will get my things from the car,” she told the clones. She stood up and put her cup in the sink. Next to the couch, she pulled her boots on. 

Cosima watched her from her seat in the kitchen. When Delphine put her coat on, Cosima gave her a grateful smile. It would be easier to talk to Alison without Delphine there; Cosima was glad that she did not have to ask her to leave.

When the door shut behind Delphine, Alison finally spoke again. “Are you mad, Cosima? What did they do to you?” she exclaimed. “You shouldn’t trust her!”

“I know. I’m not that stupid, Alison,” Cosima replied. “I told you, she knows a lot. And she has nowhere else to go. So for now, I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt and give her a chance.”

“She is probably talking to Leekie right now,” Alison said.

Cosima rolled here eyes. “Impossible,” she said.

“No! No it is not, she was far too happy to leave.”

“Yes, impossible. Dr. Leekie is dead,” Cosima answered. She got up and put fresh water in the coffee machine.

“Oh,” Alison frowned. “Well, somebody else then.”

“Look, Alison,” Cosima said. She waved a tin can with coffee around, almost spilling its contents all over the kitchen, in a strange attempt to emphasise her point. “Let me worry about Delphine, okay?”

“Fine, if you want to go back there, that is your problem.”

“Exactly,” Cosima turned back to the coffee machine. After she had added coffee to the water, and turned it on, she sat back down next to Alison. “Now please tell me before she comes back.”

Alison stared at Cosima for a moment. She reached out across the table, and took Cosima’s left hand in her own. With a deep sigh, she said, “Cosima, Beth is dead.”

“No. No, that can’t be,” Cosima said. “Delphine told me she spoke to Beth on the phone, like yesterday,’ she argued. Taking one glance at Alison’s face, she realized that her sister was not joking, and not mistaken. “What happened? Was she sick?”

Alison shook her head. “No, that wasn’t Beth, Cosima.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two weeks ago I promised that I’d warn you if I wouldn’t be able to update the next week. I’m afraid that time has come much sooner than you might have expected, I’m sorry. I’ll be away for two weeks, and though I might maybe sometimes sporadically have internet and answer to comments, I will not bring my laptop into the jungle, so there won’t be any updates.
> 
> The next update will be the 28th of July. In the meantime, to make it up to you, you can send me some prompts for short fics (up to 5000 words). It might keep me entertained for a 10 hour flight, because I can carry only so many books.


	4. Delphine +1

Somehow, Delphine was still tired despite having slept like a baby last night on Felix’s couch. She had sat down at the top of the staircase, on the last step. After Alison had arrived, Delphine had soon left the two clones to talk in private. Alison had made it very clear that she did not trust Delphine, and that the doctor was not wanted here. So Delphine had excused herself, saying she needed to get her bag. 

Ten minutes later, she was leaning against the brick wall, with her knees drawn up to her chest. She had retrieved her bag as slowly as possible. Yet, the short walk had not taken her long, and Delphine did not feel like interrupting the two women in the middle of their conversation. She would wait here until she was invited back in. Delphine chewed on her bottom lip, trying not to over think.

Behind the sliding door, Cosima was still talking to her sister. Though Delphine had no way of knowing what the subject of their conversation was, she was quite sure that she would be discussed. Alison had not been too happy about Delphine’s presence, and Beth would probably not like it either. Delphine just hoped that it would not mean that they would no longer help Cosima.

Delphine ran her fingers along the zipper of her bag. Inside she had stuffed whatever necessities she had dared to pack, before she had left to go get Cosima out of her prison yesterday. Sitting on the sticky stairs of a building smelling of urine and other substances Delphine did not even dare to name, she realized that it was all she owned now. Though Delphine had never been focussed on earthly possessions, she had never before lacked anything, or not known where she would sleep the next night. Strangely enough, it did not bother her at all; she would gladly give what she had left if it could save Cosima.

Perhaps she should. It was what she had been planning after all, to deliver Cosima to her sisters, and lead DYAD far away, possibly sacrificing herself. Cosima seemed to want to keep Delphine close; she needed information from the immunologist, but her sisters did not want Delphine. Both Alison and Beth had made it very clear. Coming to the conclusion that Cosima would have better chances with her sisters if Delphine was not there, Delphine made up her mind to leave now, before any of the clones had to tell her to go.

Tapping her fingers on the bag, Delphine gathered the strength to get up. Actually leaving Cosima behind was so much harder than deciding to do it. Delphine wondered whether that was the reason she had been so easily convinced to change her mind last night. 

Pushing herself up, Delphine gathered her things and took a step towards the door. Should she say goodbye? With a shaky breath, Delphine decided not to. She would find a way to get a message to Cosima later. Seeing her now would only make leaving harder.

Turning back around, Delphine bumped into a dark figure.

“Oi,” he said. “Look where you’re going!” 

Delphine looked up at Felix. “I, I’m so sorry,” she stammered.

“Oh, it is you,” he said when he recognized her. “Where are you off to?”

Delphine shrugged. “I don’t know,” she whispered. She looked over her shoulder at the door, behind which Cosima and Alison where probably still talking. “Alison is here. She doesn’t like me.”

“Yeah, neither do I,” Felix said. “But you did save Cosima. And she seems to like you. Besides, I’m pretty sure she needs you,” he said, crossing his arms and standing between Delphine and the stairs. “So you’re not leaving her now, when she needs you most.”

“But,” Delphine mumbled. “My being here puts her in danger even more.”

“Bullshite, we’re all in danger anyway. You’re staying,” he said. He took a firm hold of Delphine’s arm and turned her around. “Inside, and quickly please. I’ve got more things to do.”

A firm push forced Delphine towards the door. Not daring to look back at Felix, Delphine knocked softly.

“Oh, come on,” Felix said, pushing past her to slide the door open. He went inside, leaving Delphine to follow him.

When Delphine saw Cosima, sitting on the couch next to her identical sister, she felt a surge of relief. Gratefully, she smiled at Felix. He was right; she might be more useful if she stayed. Delphine set the small bag next to Cosima’s suitcase, and waited to see what would happen next.

Alison was hugging Felix, telling him how wonderful it was to see him. Whoever he was, he seemed close with Alison in particular. Delphine was quite sure that Cosima had not known him last night, yet, he seemed to know all about the clones.

On the couch, Cosima was twisting a ring on her left hand. She was clearly in deep thought, her head tilted and staring in the distance beyond Alison and Felix. Something Alison had not wanted to tell her while Delphine was in the room must have shocked her a great deal. When Cosima noticed Delphine looking at her, she turned her head towards Delphine. With a frown, Cosima ran her left hand through her dreads. She still looked overwhelmed, and yet more determined that ever.

“Hey, Felix,” Cosima said, whilst she got up from her seat.

He smiled at her, but before he could answer, Alison spoke.

“I just updated her on Beth, and everything that happened while she was gone,” Alison told Felix. “We did not have the time to cover everything, but she knows the most important parts.”

“Okay,” Felix nodded. “Are you all right?” he asked Cosima.

“Yeah,” she answered. “Thanks, for last night, and everything.” Cosima gestured at the room.

Delphine had a nagging feeling she was missing a lot of important information. Silently, she waited for the conversation to include her. She was feeling like an intruder already, and did not want to push her presence onto anybody by asking, but how she was going to be of any help to Cosima if she did not understand what the others were talking about was beyond Delphine. Alternating between glancing at Felix, Alison, and Cosima, Delphine tried to figure out what was going on.

Felix grinned at Cosima. “Sure thing. I’m afraid you’re going to have to make use of my hospitality for a little longer,” he said. “Sarah called.”

At this name, unfamiliar to Delphine, Cosima’s troubled expression changed for a split second. Delphine was not entirely sure what she had seen. Was it curiosity, worry, or something else? Before Delphine could make up her mind, Cosima asked, “Where is she? Is she here? I would like to see her.”

“Yeah, she called,” Felix said. He found a messenger bag underneath the couch, and laid it on the bed. “That is why I’m here.” He started to collect clothes from all around his loft, and piled them on the bed as well. In every drawer, behind all pillows, he seemed to have stored clothes, ranging from plain t-shirts to fishnet tights. “She’s gone rogue. She’s skipping town for a while,” he said, pausing a while and looking at the three women standing in the middle of his apartment. “I’m going with her.”

“What? No, Felix,” Alison protested. “You said you’d help me rehearse tomorrow.”

Felix went into the bathroom. A few seconds later, he exited with an armful of toiletries. “Look, darling. Sarah needs me now,” he told Alison. “You will be fine, you’ve practiced plenty.”

Alison huffed, but did not try to convince Felix to stay. She sat back down on the couch, and watched Felix continue collecting more things, and stuffing them in the messenger bag, and a garbage bag.

Next to Alison, Cosima had sat down as well. She was sipping her coffee, and did not say anything. Delphine wished she would say something. That Cosima would explain what was going on, because Delphine did not understand, and she felt too out of place to speak up herself. Awkwardly, she remained standing next to the door, and watched Felix tie the garbage bag closed.

“Right, I’m leaving. You two can stay here until I get back,” Felix said, looking first at Cosima, and then at Delphine.

Both women nodded at him. “Is everything all right, Felix?” Cosima asked.

“Yeah, it’s fine. That’s just Sarah, you know?” Felix said. He slipped a knot in the garbage back. “She’s being paranoid, about Kira and stuff.” He shrugged, and put a coat on.

“Right,” Cosima said. “You really don’t mind us staying here?”

“Nah, of course not. Just don't touch my paintings,” Felix buttoned up his coat. “By the way, I have to paint you when I get back. I did the others as well.” He pointed at a stack of canvases in a corner. The sides with the images on them were pointed at the wall, so that they were obstructed from view.

Cosima grinned and nodded. Delphine was amazed with how comfortable Cosima seemed with this stranger. Again, she wondered what Alison and Cosima had talked about earlier.

“There should be enough food for both of you to last you a couple of days,” Felix said. “Don’t go out, they might find you. Ask Alison if you need anything else.” He picked his bags up, and looked around the room. “You have my number, and Sarah’s, in case of an emergency.”

“Okay,” Cosima said. “Awesome, thanks.”

Delphine agreed with her. “Yes. Thank you, Felix,” she said.

“Anytime,” Felix said. His phone buzzed as a message came in. He quickly checked it, and said, “Right, I gotta go.”

“Hang on, I’m leaving too,” Alison said. She hugged Cosima, and whispered something in her ear. Cosima glanced at Alison, and smiled at her. They both got up from the couch, and walked towards the door.

Alison gave Cosima another squeeze, and nodded a stiff goodbye at Delphine. “Let me know if you need anything. Don’t go wandering around,” she said, and stepped outside to wait for Felix.

“Of course not,” Cosima said. “We won’t let them catch us that easily.” She gave Alison her trademark grin, and rested her hands on her hips.

Felix smiled. “Right, I have full confidence in you ladies. I’ll be back before you know it. Do you have everything you need in the meantime?”

“Sure,” Cosima said.

“ _Euh_ , perhaps some aspirin?” Delphine suggested.

“Why do we need that?” Cosima asked.

Delphine gestured at Cosima’s right hand, the palm resting on her hip and her blistered fingertips hovering above it so it would not hurt. “Your hand.”

“It doesn’t hurt that much,” Cosima said. “Just a little pounding, and kinda hot.”

Delphine glanced at the subject of discussion. She might have a medical degree, but Delphine was not an expert on burn wounds. Even worse than her own lack of experience with these injuries, she also did not like the unsterile way she had taken care of the wounds. “It might help prevent an infection,” she explained.

Cosima frowned, looking at her hand. “Yeah, okay. Maybe that isn’t a bad idea.”

“Alrighty then, I’ll make sure you get some soon,” Alison said. “Anything else?”

“Nope, I don’t think so,” Cosima said. She had set her hands back onto her hips, her left elbow just touched Delphine’s arm. Cosima looked at Delphine, “We’ll be fine, right?”

Nervously, Delphine nodded. She hoped Cosima was right. There was nothing that she could think of they would need, besides a hiding spot and food. A cure for Cosima would be nice, but neither Alison nor Felix could give her that. “We’ll be all right, merci.”

“Okay,” Felix said. “Goodbye then, and be safe.” With a stern look at Delphine, he added, “Please stick together while I’m gone.”

Biting her lip, Delphine gave him a very small nod. She would not leave Cosima all alone, the only reason she had even contemplated abandoning the clone was because she had thought that Cosima was with other people.

“You too,” Cosima answered. “And say hi to Sarah.”

Felix left with Alison. They both waved at Cosima when they left.

Cosima smiled, and waved at them. 

As she moved to close the door, Delphine realized she had forgotten something important. “Wait, Felix!” she yelled.

A head peaked around the corner of the staircase down the hallway. “What?”

“The car,” Delphine said. She dug in her pocket for the key. “It is still standing in front of the bar. I’m afraid they might track it, and find us here.”

Felix nodded. He held up his hand for Delphine to give him the key. “I know a guy who can take care of that,” he said. “Which one is it?”

Delphine described the car, and told him exactly where to find it.

In a hurry, Felix took the key, and ran off. Alison followed him down the stairs, with a last wave over her shoulder.

Slowly, Delphine turned around. 

Cosima leaned against the doorframe. She looked so silly, wearing Alison’s clothes. And yet, she looked like she had a hundred times before. The way she had cocked her hip, leaning on her right leg, barefoot and with one hand buried in her dreadlocks, she looked almost as she used to when Delphine used to come home to their apartment in San Francisco. It reminded Delphine of happier times.

Feeling a surge of hope, Delphine made her way back inside.

Cosima moved aside to let her in. “We need to talk,” she said.

“Yes, we should,” Delphine agreed. She closed the door behind her, and locked it with the screwdriver before following Cosima further into the loft.


	5. Cosima +2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter comes with a warning for mentioned suicide. If you’re okay with what happens in the tv show, I think you should be fine with this.

“Would you like a cup of tea?” Cosima asked Delphine.

“Hmm?” Delphine looked up from her laptop screen. She looked around, as if she was trying to figure out where Cosima was. “Yes, I’d like that. Thank you,” she answered, when she finally found Cosima standing in the kitchen of Felix’s loft.

It was in the afternoon of their second day hiding out in the strange chaos that was the painter’s studio, and they were still a bit lost in the unfamiliar home. At least Cosima and Delphine had figured out where Felix kept most of his food, and the tea; they would not starve. Cosima’s main worry was that they both were useless without any resources beyond their laptops. Neither of them would be able to help the other clones much at the moment. Cosima had never enjoyed idleness, and she despised feeling like such a burden while at the same time being completely useless.

Her second worry was that the two of them were cooped up close together. After all that had happened between them, Cosima was afraid that it would cause an enormous fight. Cosima was still angry with Delphine, despite the fact that Delphine was so obviously trying to atone for all she did. Yesterday, after Felix and Alison had left them alone, they had spent hours talking. Or, more accurately, Delphine had done the talking, and Cosima had listened.

In excruciating detail, Delphine had described her intentions, her reasoning, and the choices she had made, which had resulted in Cosima’s imprisonment. She had neither made excuses, nor had she asked for forgiveness. She had merely explained what had happened, and why. Cosima had listened while occasionally asking questions.

After hours of tiresome conversation, about what Delphine and the DYAD institute had done, Cosima had learned a great deal about their aim, and a lot about the way they operated. Worn out from talking to Delphine, and also from her conversation with Alison prior to that, Cosima had gone to bed very early, leaving Delphine on the couch with her own unasked questions and a blanket.

Even though she had not asked, Cosima was sure that Delphine must have a lot of questions about Cosima’s self-awareness, and how she had gotten in touch with her sisters. It made Cosima wonder why Delphine had not asked her yet; they had been alone for over twenty-four hours, after all.

“What are you doing?” Cosima asked, sitting down next to Delphine on the floor. She set two teacups down in the space between them. Annoyed, she tugged on the salmon coloured sweater she was wearing. It was itchy, and had a turtleneck; not something Cosima would ever wear voluntarily.

Delphine straightened her back, and ran her hands through her hair. It was already starting to curl at the tips, bouncing back to its natural state. “I’m looking through some of the things I stole from Leekie’s hard drive,” Delphine said, gesturing at the laptop screen, which displayed her desktop, littered with files.

“Hmm,” Cosima said. She folded her legs underneath her, and scooted a little closer. “Find anything interesting?”

“Yes,” Delphine answered. She did not elaborate. Instead, she picked the cup closest to her up and took a small sip. It was still be very hot, for she put it back down immediately. “Cosima, I don’t want to pry. I understand you don’t trust me, you have every reason not to,” Delphine said. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, hesitating a moment before she continued. “But, I have to ask; besides Alison and Beth, how many clones have you been in touch with?”

“Oh,” Cosima leaned back against the couch behind her. It suddenly made sense; Delphine thought the reason Cosima had still not told her about Clone Club was because she did not trust Delphine. Obviously, Cosima was still very reluctant to trust Delphine, but she did understand her intentions a bit better after last night.

“Right,” Cosima tried to stall. She was not entirely sure how much to tell Delphine. Telling Delphine everything they knew would be too much, but they did want Delphine’s help, and she had a right to know what was going on. “I have been in touch with two, no, three of my sisters.”

“You are not sure?”

Cosima tilted her head. “Hey, we do look a lot alike,” she said. She grinned, with the tip of her tongue poking from between her teeth.

Delphine frowned at her, shaking her head in disbelief.

“Oh, come on,” Cosima said. “You were fooled too.”

“What?” Delphine asked. She took another sip from her tea. This time it had cooled down enough, and Delphine glanced at Cosima while she drank.

“Shit, I haven’t told you yet,” Cosima said. She shifted into a little more comfortable position. “Beth is dead.”

“ _Non,_ ” Delphine said. “That cannot be.” Her eyes went wide, and she took a moment to process the information. “Is that why she wasn’t here last night?”

“Yes, she’s been dead for almost a month,” Cosima said. “Alison told me she disappeared shortly after I did.”

Shaking her head, Delphine protested. “No, that can’t be. I saw her only a few days ago,” she said. Her mouth slightly agape, she was clearly having trouble believing Cosima.

“Different clone,” Cosima said. “That was Sarah, pretending to be Beth.”

“Sarah?” Delphine asked. The clones’ names had always been classified information, yet somehow the name sounded familiar. “Wait, isn’t that the one Felix ran away with?”

Cosima nodded, “Yeah. That’s the one.”

“But why would she pretend to be Beth?” Delphine asked. “And what happened to Beth?”

“Beth killed herself,” Cosima said. Even though she said it so calmly, she was still hurting for her sister. Despite the fact that they had never met in person, Cosima had felt strongly connected with Beth from the start; it had been Beth who had initiated Cosima into Clone Club. Cosima did not understand what had driven Beth to do such a desperate thing. She could not help but wonder if she could have stopped Beth, if only she had been available.

Delphine laid a hand softly on Cosima’s shoulder. Her eyes large and apologetic, she said, “I am so sorry Cosima.”

Cosima grasped Delphine’s hand with her left hand. She smiled sadly, “She always had issues, you know. But I had no idea it was that bad.”

“Do you have any idea what triggered her to do something like that?” Delphine asked.

Cosima shook her head. She let go of Delphine’s hand to reach for her tea. Clutching the cup in her healthy hand, she took a deep shaky breath. “Alison has no idea. She just told me Beth jumped,” Cosima said. “Like, in front of a train.”

Delphine frowned deeply. She had not known Beth like Cosima had, and was mostly confused by the news of her death. After all, Delphine was convinced she had spoken to Beth only days ago. “I don’t get-,” Delphine started to say, when they were interrupted by a knock on the door.

Both women turned their heads towards the door. “Are we expecting somebody?” Cosima whispered.

Delphine shook her head. Alison was working on her play, and Felix had texted Cosima earlier today; he was still far away and not planning on returning anytime soon. Nobody else was supposed to know that they were hiding here. Slowly, Delphine stood up and moved towards the door.

“Delphine, no,” Cosima whispered. She got up as well, and followed a few steps behind Delphine. “Don’t open that door.”

There was another knock. “Anybody in the house?” somebody said at the other side of the door. “It’s Ramon.”

“Ramon?” Delphine asked Cosima standing a few feet behind her.

Cosima shrugged, she had no idea. It was probably somebody looking for Felix. Cosima and Delphine had to find a way get rid of this stranger without letting him know that they were hiding in Felix’s loft. If they ignored him, Ramon would hopefully leave.

Outside the door, Ramon was not giving up. He knocked again, and yelled, “Delivery from Mrs. Hendrix.”

Relieved, Delphine looked at Cosima for permission before she removed the screwdriver and opened the door.

Ramon turned out to be a young man, a boy even. He was holding a large bouquet of flowers, which he held out for Delphine to take.

“Uhm,” Delphine took the flowers from him. “Thank you,” she said.

“It’s what’s inside that counts,” Ramon said. He smirked at Delphine in a way that made Cosima very uncomfortable.

“Those are very Alison,” Cosima said. She stepped aside, out of Delphine’s shadow, to stand next to her.

Ramon’s mouth fell open. “Whoa,” he said, staring at Cosima.

Realizing that this guy had seen Alison, Cosima decided not to engage any further with the flower delivery boy. She gave him a quick wave with her good hand and slid the door back into its lock, closing it with the screwdriver.

Delphine set the bouquet down on the coffee table, leaving Cosima to pluck the bedazzled card from between the plants. Quickly, Cosima read through the short message. Alison wished her well, and warned her to be careful in a vague message.

With a grin, Cosima set the card down next to the flowers. “Dude, Alison has a weird taste in flowers,” she said to Delphine, as she searched in between the daisies, lobelias, and what seemed to be mint leaves and unidentifiable greenery.

Delphine laughed at Cosima’s remark. She was watching from her spot behind her laptop, waiting for Cosima to join her again.

Once Cosima had found what she had been looking for, she sat back down with a groan. When she was comfortable on the ground, next to Delphine, she tried to open the small jar of painkillers. Having only one useable hand, it was impossible to open the childproof lid. “Uhm, can you…?” Cosima held the bottle out for Delphine.

“ _Bien sûr,_ ” she said. Without trouble, Delphine removed the cap and gave Cosima two aspirins. “I know you said it doesn’t hurt very much, but this might prevent inflammation. Take two now, and then one every couple of hours.”

“I know,” Cosima said. She would never admit it to Delphine, but she was quite grateful for the painkillers. Her hand was throbbing, and a sharp pain stabbed through her fingers every time she accidentally moved them. Cosima took the painkillers from Delphine, and washed them down with her lukewarm tea. “Right, you were saying?”

It took Delphine a moment to remember what she had been saying before the delivery boy knocked on the door. “ _Euh_ , I.” She thought for a second before continuing, “What I don’t understand is that if Beth is dead, why did DYAD not know? She has a monitor after all.”

Cosima nodded. “Yeah, that is probably because Sarah took her place.”

“But this Sarah, she has her own monitor. So DYAD should know that she disappeared, _non_?”

Tilting her head, Cosima smirked. “Nope. Sarah was unmonitored.”

“That is not possible,” Delphine said, shaking her head vigorously. “Aldous kept a tight leash on all of the clones.”

“Somehow, she was…” Cosima searched for the right word. “Stolen. Even before she was born. She lived her entire life guarded from the system.”

“Really?” Delphine was clearly taken aback.

“Hmm, yup,” Cosima said. She leaned against the couch, waiting for Delphine to process the information for which Cosima had had an entire night to figure out and try to wrap her brain around.

Chewing on her lip, Delphine frowned again. “Right, so Beth jumped in front of a train, and you have no idea why,” she summarized. “Sarah, who somehow managed to dodge the monitoring system all her life, willingly took Beth’s place.”

“That is correct.”

“Has Sarah always been self-aware?” Delphine asked. “And why would she risk being discovered when taking Beth’s identity?”

Cosima shifted uncomfortably. The carpet was doing very little to soften the hard floor underneath her. Why Delphine had been sitting on the floor in the first place, was beyond Cosima. “No, they had no idea when they first met each other,” she said. “That is kinda how they found out.”

Slowly, Delphine was starting to understand what had happened. She did not say anything, but the look of utter confusion was slowly starting to fade into understanding.

“Apparently Beth found Sarah when she was arrested for possession,” Cosima said. She studied her hand, trying to remember what exactly Alison had told her last night. “Uhm, that was, like three months before, you know,” Cosima gestured vaguely.

Delphine understood that Cosima meant the whole kidnapping and medical experimentation situation. She nodded. “So, when Beth jumped, Sarah took her place so that DYAD wouldn’t find out Beth was gone?”

“Hmm, yeah,” Cosima said. “And we needed a cop. Beth had access to a lot of info we needed for our own research. Also, Sarah had some personal issues she was trying to get away from, so she did not mind faking her own death in Beth’s place.” She smiled sadly at Delphine. “At least, that is what Alison said.”

“All right,” Delphine mumbled. “I think I understand.” She thought over the fresh information for a moment. “So, to get back to the question; you only know Alison, Beth, and this Sarah? You guys weren’t in touch with any other clones?”

“Oh, we were,” Cosima answered. “A lot has changed in the last month though. But when Beth and Sarah first found out they were clones, and not long lost twin sisters, they did a lot of digging. That is how they found me and Alison.”

“Right, and they got in touch with you?”

“Yeah, well Beth did. I did not know that Sarah existed until last night,” Cosima said. “But, yes. She told me, and I started to research our biology.”

Delphine ran her hands through her hair. “Okay, when was this?”

“Uhm,” Cosima calculated, counting the days backwards. “About thirteen weeks ago.”

With a nod, Delphine smiled. “I had no idea you knew that long.”

“Yeah, you’re a shit monitor.”

With a shrug, Delphine ignored the comment. She did not seem particularly hurt by it. If anything, she seemed ashamed. Though, Cosima was not entirely sure of what.

“Right, so yeah. The four of us knew for a while. And Beth knew the four of us, I talked to her a lot during the time while we tried to understand what was going on,” Cosima continued her explanation. “And Beth found several clones in Europe using Interpol. They had all recently died.”

Delphine let out a surprised noise. “They died? Like Beth did?”

Cosima shrugged. “Some were, like, shot, as in murdered. And others died under more suspicious circumstances, or they just disappeared. Which is why we needed Beth so much, we wanted to know what happened to them, and she was the one that had access to such info.”

“I see,” Delphine said. “But you guys didn’t talk to anybody besides the four of you?”

Cosima shook her head. “No, we did not find any living ones. Just a whole lot of dead sisters, and all far away.”

“I’m sorry,” Delphine said. She frowned at her laptop screen. “I’m afraid I don’t have any better news for you. Aldous was never keen on sharing any information he did not consider directly relevant to the science, so I can’t give you any names of living clones. But I do know there are quite a few live ones out there.”

“Got any more info on them?” Cosima asked. She was intrigued; after all their research, they still had no idea how many of them were out there in the wild.

Shaking her head, Delphine bit her lip. “ _Non_ , besides you, the only clone I had ever met was Jennifer.”

“Jennifer?” Cosima had no idea who it was. The name did not help, it was such a widespread name; the woman could literally live anywhere, and Delphine’s accent did not help Cosima pinpoint Jennifer’s origin. “Who is she?”

Delphine leaned forward, and opened a screen she had hidden when Cosima had sat down next to her. “Was,” she corrected Cosima. “She died of the same respiratory issues you’re having.” Shocked at her own harsh words, Delphine’s eyes widened. She stared at Cosima like a deer caught in headlights. “Sorry, I did not mean…”

“It’s fine,” Cosima said. “I know it is bad.” She could not be bothered with politeness, and there was no point in avoiding the issue. Without DYAD, and likely even with them, Cosima would probably succumb to this mysterious illness quite soon.

Delphine gave her a nod. “I think you have a right to see this,” she said, turning back to the black screen of the video player of her laptop.

“Alright,” Cosima waited.

Starting the video, Delphine said, “I just want to show you.”

“Oh,” Cosima leaned towards the screen. “Whoa!” On the screen she saw somebody with her own face, a sight she would never get used to, sitting on a bed. This clone was clearly getting ready to talk to the person behind the camera. “Is that her?”

Delphine did not answer. Instead, the girl on the screen confirmed Cosima’s question. She chatted cheerfully, introducing herself and talking about her a mysterious sickness she had been having.

Delphine pressed pause. “Jennifer was the first to show symptoms,” she said. “I found hours of these tapes on Leekie’s hard drive.”

Speechless, Cosima pulled Delphine’s laptop onto her own lap. She pressed play, and settled in for a long afternoon of discovering yet another sister. One that was already gone, but could teach Cosima a lot about the illness that was slowly overtaking her own body.

Without bothering Cosima, Delphine went to refill their tea. After all, she had already met Jennifer, and knew her story a little too well. She did not feel like watching somebody with Cosima’s face steadily deteriorate, and eventually die, in what had to be agonizing pain. Instead, Delphine sat in the kitchen, trying not to hear Jennifer’s ever so cheerful voice, while she contemplated the things Cosima had shared with her earlier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Bien sûr._ = Of course. (I’m quite sure I already used and translated that once, but I have no time to go through all those chapters to make sure.)


	6. Delphine +5

Delphine dried the last of the plates, and softly stacked it on top of the one she had dried earlier. She was cleaning up after dinner, while Cosima was napping on the couch. Delphine did not want to wake her; the clone was always tired and fell asleep quickly. Knowing that sleep was the best medicine Cosima had at the moment, Delphine let her get as much of it as possible.

Neither of them had been outside the attic littered with painting equipment. Granted, it was quite a large and well-lit space, but it was starting to feel cramped to Delphine. With every passing day, she became more amazed that Cosima had not gone completely mad in that small basement prison DYAD had kept her in without light and without any news from the outside world. Delphine was glad that they would be able to get out soon, even if it was just to be transferred to the next hiding place.

After putting away the last of the dishes, Delphine tiptoed to the couch. She kneeled next to Cosima, and watched her sleep for a moment.

Cosima was sound asleep; she did not react at all to Delphine’s proximity. Her chest was rising and falling steadily. Delphine could still hear a faint rattle in Cosima’s breath, but the clone did not seem to be bothered by it.

Silently and without touching, Delphine had a look at Cosima’s hand. It was healing very well, despite Delphine’s expectations. Cosima had clearly been irritated every time Delphine had asked how she was feeling, or tried to check the wounds on her hand for any signs of an infection. Yet, Delphine could not help but worry about the sick clone, so she settled for a quiet look while Cosima was sleeping to check up on Cosima’s health. It was better than nothing, but she wished that Cosima would allow Delphine to take care of her.

Convinced that Cosima was fine, Delphine made another round through the loft. They had gathered and packed all of their meagre belongings in their bags. Delphine had cleaned the loft, leaving it looking better than when they had arrived a few days ago.

Only a few hours earlier, Cosima’s phone had suddenly rang after having been silent for days. Cosima had talked with the caller for almost fifteen minutes. When she had finally hung up, all she had told Delphine was that somebody she called S was going to hide them in a more secure place tonight. When Delphine had asked who S was, or where they were going, Cosima had shrugged and told her she did not know. Delphine had not argued with Cosima. She had started packing their belongings, wondering silently what would happen next.

When Delphine was sure they would leave nothing behind, she sat down in a comfy chair on the opposite side of the coffee table from the still sleeping Cosima. Here, Delphine was close to the door while she waited. From one of the bags lying on the floor next to her, she retrieved her laptop. Delphine had no idea how long they would have to wait; Cosima had never specified a time.

It did not take Delphine long to once again become engrossed in her work. Except that it was no longer her job, as she was surely fired by now. Nobody from DYAD had yet found her to inform her of it, but she was sure that she was no longer welcome at the institute. Delphine did not mind not being paid for trying to fabricate a cure for Cosima and her sisters; she would keep trying until the last of the clones was cured, or worse: dead. Scrolling through pages of results of Cosima’s last medical exams, Delphine wondered if she should have kept Cosima locked up. Even if they could figure out how to make a cure, they simply did not have the resources while hiding from DYAD.

\---

A loud knock woke both of the women. 

Alarmed, Delphine jumped from her chair, almost dropping her laptop on the floor. She had not even noticed she had fallen asleep while she was working.

“Hmpf.” Cosima got up much slower than Delphine. Sitting on the edge of the couch, she asked Delphine, “Is that them?”

“I don’t know,” Delphine answered. She had not opened the door; of course she did not know who would be behind it. After she set her laptop down, Delphine walked towards the door. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, wondering how long she had slept. It was already dark outside; it must have been a while.

There was another pounding on the door, just as Delphine was removing the screwdriver from the lock. Cautiously, Delphine opened the door just a crack.

Before Delphine could have a good look at their guests, they pushed the door open further and burst in.

“About damn time,” one of them said. She had a thick Irish accent, and dark hair. Delphine had not managed to have a real look at her face, but in passing she seemed much older than Delphine had expected somebody to be hiding illegal clones from international corporations to be. “What were you doing?” the woman said. “We’re on a tight schedule here.”

“Uhm,” Cosima said, staring up at the fierce woman from her spot on the couch. “Sorry, I fell asleep,” she said, and smiled apologetically at the woman. She coughed in her elbow, and struggled to get up at the same time.

“Oh chicken, sorry,” the woman said. “I forgot, you’re sick.” She held out a hand to help Cosima get up.

The clone took her hand, and shook it awkwardly with her left hand. “I’m Cosima,” she said. “But you probably already knew that.”

The woman nodded. “Yes, I know who you are.” She turned around and had a look at Delphine. “I also know who you are,” she said, and her smile faded.

Uncomfortable, Delphine met her gaze. She did not know what to say; it was obvious that this woman was aware of what Delphine had done to Cosima. Awkwardly, Delphine glanced at the man accompanying the Irish woman. When Felix had called Cosima this afternoon, he had told them that S would move them to a more secure location tonight. Looking at both of the strangers, Delphine wondered which one of them was this S.

“Right, there is no point in wasting any more time,” the woman said. “Benjamin, can you help the ladies with those bags?”

With a brief nod, the man picked up the two largest bags. He waited in the hallway for the three women, motioning at Delphine to follow.

Not wanting to anger either of them, Delphine quickly pulled her coat on, and grabbed both of the laptop bags. Knowing that Cosima and the woman, who must be S, would follow close behind them, Delphine followed Benjamin towards the stairs.

“Do you have everything?” Benjamin asked her.

“Yes,” Delphine said. “I think so.” She was standing at the top of the staircase, reluctant to leave with this stranger without Cosima. There was still no sign of the clone or S at the door. Worried, Delphine walked back towards Felix’s loft.

“Are you sure you want her to come with you?” The whispered Irish voice met Delphine in the hallway before she was halfway towards the door. “We can take care of her, you don’t need to be afraid of her.”

Alarmed, Delphine stopped. She looked back at Benjamin. He had set the luggage down at the top of the stairs, and had taken a step towards Delphine. She could clearly see the pistol tucked in his belt. How had she not noticed the weapon earlier?

“No, thanks,” Cosima said after what seemed like forever. “Why would you even say that? We need her help.”

Delphine let out a shaky breath.

“No reason,” S said. There was some rustling in the room, and footsteps as they walked towards the door. “Just in case. Felix told us what she did to you.”

“Come on,” Benjamin said. He pulled Delphine towards the stairs. “Has nobody ever taught you how rude it is to eavesdrop?”

Delphine did not answer. She focussed on the stairs in front of her, hearing the muffled voices of the two other women in the distance, and Benjamin’s footsteps close behind her. She could no longer distinguish what they said, but it did not matter. In the almost dark hallway, Delphine staggered down the stairs with both heavy bags. 

Once downstairs, she did not wait for the others. Delphine headed straight for the exit, not stopping until she was in the fresh air. Taking a few deep gulps of breath, Delphine tried to calm down. She would be fine; Cosima had told S that she did not need to take care of Delphine, whatever that meant.

In a short moment, Cosima joined her. She smiled at Delphine, before following her example and taking a deep breath of fresh air. “Ah, I so missed that,” she said.

“Come on,” S said. She was already on the other side of the alley, Benjamin walking next to her. “You gals can breathe all you want in the car.”

Cosima giggled, and almost skipped as she walked away.

Delphine followed more reluctantly. She climbed into the back seat of an old station wagon.

Cosima was already sitting behind the chauffeur’s seat. She was chatting about the weather, out of all conversational topics, with S in the passenger seat. While Delphine struggled to put both laptop bags between her legs, Benjamin sat down behind the steering wheel.

He drove off immediately, not waiting until the last of his passengers had fastened her seatbelt.

Delphine looked out the window at the dark city passing by. The last time she had seen Toronto it had been dark as well. Then it had been Delphine behind the wheel, as she tried to get Cosima to safety in an adrenaline filled rush. Now, Delphine was oddly calm. The city seemed unreal. There was nobody on the streets; it must be long past midnight already. 

In the seat next to Delphine, Cosima was chatting with S. She seemed happy to finally have somebody else to talk to besides Delphine. Cosima had barely spoken with Delphine in the last five days, but now she was rambling a hundred miles an hour. Delphine listened half, while she tried to figure out where they were going at the same time.

She found her question answered before long, when they pulled into a new alleyway. Aside from the headlights of the car, there was no light. Judging by the sign saying delivery only, and the other side of the buildings they had just driven past, the alley gave access to the backside of the stores on the shopping stores.

The car drove a little while into the ominous alley, between the two high walls, until Delphine had lost sight of the main street. Benjamin stopped the car. He and his passengers all got out of the car. Speaking in hushed tones, they gathered at the back of the station wagon.

S pointed something out for Cosima to see. Hidden in the shadows of a dumpster, Delphine noticed a door she might have missed otherwise. S gave Cosima a key. “There you go, lock the door behind you,” she said. “Be careful when going out, you have a very recognizable face.” She gave Cosima a brief hug. “We will be in touch soon.”

“Awesome,” Cosima said. Delphine could see the white of Cosima’s teeth glisten as she smiled at S. “Thank you. And tell Felix that we said thanks.”

Delphine took their luggage from Benjamin, thanking him for their effort. She had still no idea where they were, or whether they would be safe here. At least she was still with Cosima, and Delphine was grateful for that. “Thank you,” she said, looking both at S and Benjamin.

Benjamin gave her a curd nod, before getting back in the car.

“You’re welcome,” S said. “Just don’t do anything stupid,” she added, giving Delphine a stern look. “And I think Sarah will contact you soon, Cosima,” she said, turning back to the clone. “If you are in trouble, call me or Felix, okay?”

“Yes, we will.” Cosima grinned again. She gave S a quick wave, and turned around to open the door with the key she had just been given. Not waiting for Delphine, the clone went inside the dark room.

Delphine thanked the Irish woman one last time, and watched her get in the car. She waited until the car was backed out of the alley, leaving her alone in the glow from the open door behind her.

“Delphine?” Cosima opened the door a bit further. She took one of the bags from Delphine, and disappeared again. “Come on,” came Cosima’s voice from inside, luring Delphine in.

Behind the door was a dilapidated storeroom of what seemed to once have been a bookshop. A sole fluorescent tube lighted the entire room in bright bluish light. Boxes were stacked against the wall, the labels on them faded to unreadable gibberish. A couple of empty shelves against one wall displayed a few books and magazines. The tiles on the floor were cracked, and the paint peeled from the walls in large slabs. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust and cobwebs.

Delphine noticed three doors, one of which was covered in posters and leaflets with inventory and instructions. The other was open and showed what seemed to be a dark office, which could easily compete in shabbiness with the storeroom.

Cosima had closed the door to the outside world and was looking around the room. She inspected the cabinets above the sink. “Wow,” she said. “This place is fully stocked. It must be, like a safe house.”

Glancing into what had seemed an office, Delphine noticed that, though it looked like nobody had been here in years, there were two clean places to sleep. Granted, they were nothing but mattresses on the floor with sleeping bags, one of which was located half underneath the desk, but they were free of dust and spiders. The walls of this room were covered in graffiti, mostly nonsense, but above the desk Delphine recognized a circle with a lightning bolt shooting upwards. “It is a safe house,” Delphine said, returning to the first room.

“Awesome.” Cosima locked the door from the inside. There were no windows in either of the two rooms; nobody would find them here unless they opened the door themselves. “I wonder how Siobhan knew about this place,” Cosima wondered.

“Who is Siobhan?” Delphine asked.

“The lady who brought us here. Felix and Sarah’s mother,” Cosima said with a frown. “Were you paying attention at all in the car?”

“Ah,” Delphine mumbled. She had not been paying attention. “Sorry, I was distracted.” 

Cosima looked at Delphine. She tilted her head, thinking for a moment. “Right, okay. Well, we should be safe here for now,” she said. She took her coat off, and hung it over the only chair in the room.

“Are you sure about that?” Delphine asked, while following Cosima’s example and draping her own coat on top of Cosima’s.

“Alison trusts Sarah. And Sarah trusts Felix and Siobhan,” Cosima said, suddenly defensive. “So I will trust them too.” Irritated, she kneeled next to her suitcase and started digging through her luggage.

Delphine ran her hand through her hair. That was not what she meant; she knew they had no choice but to trust these people. Though Delphine had her doubts, if Cosima thought these people were trustworthy, Delphine trusted her if it meant she was allowed to stay with her. “Cosima,” Delphine said apprehensively, “This place is right under DYAD’s nose. Are you absolutely sure about this?”

“What?” Cosima did not look up from her bag.

“We passed the institute on our way here,” Delphine said. She might have not been paying attention to the conversation in the car, but Cosima had clearly not been paying attention to where they had been going. “It is only a few blocks that way.” Delphine pointed behind her, roughly in the direction where they had come from.

Cosima sat back on her heels, staring up at Delphine. She pushed her glasses back up her nose, and thought for a second. “Well, hide in plain sight, am I right?” she finally said. “They won’t go looking for us here, they must think we’re miles away by now.”

Delphine nodded. Perhaps Cosima was right. Delphine would have followed Cosima to the end of the world, and Delphine would stay here with Cosima as long as she wanted her too. But Delphine would much rather be at the end of the world right now, than so very close to the institute.


	7. Cosima +7

When the two women opened the door behind the sales counter, the sudden movement stirred the dust from the many surfaces into the air. Particles floated slowly about in the stale atmosphere while Cosima and Delphine took in the newly uncovered room for a moment.

The windows to the street were covered with newspapers, causing the entire room to glow in the golden light of the late afternoon. Silhouettes of pedestrians moved from left to right and vice versa behind the old papers. Nobody on the sidewalk stopped to peek though the minuscule gaps in the newspapers.

If they had, they might have looked right into a brown eye, lined with heavy make-up. Cosima had walked to the window, and was glancing through one of the cracks at the street. Unable to see much, she continued to inspect the rest of the window. With a tilted head, she ran her hand over the newspapers, scanning the text on them. Flakes of the brittle brownish paper fluttered towards the floor, and Cosima quickly pulled her hand back in fear of making the holes larger.

Behind the counter, Delphine was looking at the wall next to the door through which they had just entered. One of the many posters informed the reader that the store was closing; everything was on sale. Other posters and flyers, all faded and torn, advertised bygone events.

“2008,” Cosima said.

“Hmm?” Delphine turned around. “What?”

“I think the store closed in 2008,” Cosima explained.

With a frown, Delphine nodded. A few minutes ago they had been wondering why they were hiding in a bookstore. It seemed oddly ordinary to hide in a closed shop in the middle of a busy street. How did somebody like Siobhan manage to get access to a place like this? They had decided to explore the store for some answers while they waited. Neither of them had as much as poked their nose outside the door and they spoke in hushed tones, afraid that the people on the streets would hear them. But nobody would notice if they looked around the store.

“Look at the ceiling,” Delphine gestured at the plaster above them. She was looking at a large patch of fungi, confirming Cosima’s suspicion that no maintenance had been done in the building for a few years. “We could make enough penicillin for all of North-America with what grows there.”

Cosima rolled her eyes at the nerdy joke, laughing despite herself. That was the immunologist she once knew. Shaking her head, Cosima turned back to the newspapers, this time to check the door. To the clone’s relief, it was locked and the glass was well covered. 

As Delphine continued her exploration behind the counter, Cosima had another look around the rest of the room. Books were still displayed on the shelves along the wall. A couple of books had toppled over, and some had fallen on the ground. The colours of the covers had faded, and the pages were rippled as if the books had been wet at some point. Most of the space was empty though, reinforcing the desolate feeling of the abandoned store.

Cosima picked up one of the books closest to her. The pages smelled musty, and its cover was damaged. The inside was still readable. With a frown, Cosima picked up the next book, putting the first one down. Making a full circle, she looked around the room, before looking down again at the book in her hands. It was a children’s bookstore, making the run-down desolation even more tragic.

“ _Atchou,_ ” Delphine sneezed.

In a reflex, Cosima answered, “ _À tes souhaits._ ” She looked up from her book, not surprised that she still remembered the basic French Delphine had taught her, but amazed how familiar the foreign tongue still was.

Delphine glanced up at Cosima. “ _Merci,_ ” she said. She was sitting behind the counter of the bookshop, searching for an electrical outlet. “Ah, I found one,” Delphine said. She pulled one of the power plugs from the outlet, exchanging it with the charger of Cosima’s laptop. 

The one thing their safe house was lacking most was electricity. The office in which Delphine and Cosima slept had several lamps and electrical outlets, but to their frustration, none of them worked. They were unable to find a fuse box anywhere to fix this issue. In the other room there was a working light, but it lacked an electrical outlet. This, in combination with their curiosity, had driven Cosima and Delphine to the customer side of the closed book store.

The clone put the book back on the display and wandered over to the counter without hurry. She sat down on the chair Delphine had used earlier, folding her legs underneath her. Cosima scratched her head, and then finally pressed the power button on her laptop.

Delphine leaned against the wall. “Is it working?”

“Give it a minute,” Cosima answered. Her laptop was old, and the battery completely drained; it would take a while for it to start. “Why are we not using yours? It would be way faster.”

Glancing at her own white laptop bag lying on the countertop, Delphine answered, “I’m afraid DYAD might be tracking it. I used it at work, and uploaded some files they gave me onto it.” She ran her hand through her hair. “It wouldn’t be beneath them to put some spy-ware on there. I am a bit afraid to use it.”

Cosima nodded. The idea seemed slightly far-fetched, but Delphine knew much better what DYAD was capable of than she did. Up to now, Delphine had only used her computer offline, and Cosima had yet to see Delphine’s phone; it seemed as if Delphine no longer had one. Perhaps it was better to be safe than to be sorry. “Right, sure,” she mumbled. “But you used my laptop, right? Is it safe to use it?”

“I think so,” Delphine said pensively. “It was never connected to anything DYAD had ever access to. It should be fine.”

“Hmmm,” Cosima considered their options. Before she could make up her mind, her screen lit up. After typing in her password, Cosima leaned on the counter.

While Cosima waited for her laptop to be ready for use, Delphine wandered around the room. She copied Cosima’s earlier route; first she inspected the papers on the windows, and then proceeded to have a look at the few books still displayed on the shelves.

Cosima sat on the edge of the chair behind the counter leaning on her elbows as she watched Delphine move around the store. Self-consciously, Cosima breathed deeply. As long as she did everything calmly, and took a few deep breaths every once in a while, she did not feel the oxygen deprivation, yet. Deep down, Cosima knew that it was only a matter of time. Delphine knew it too; she asked Cosima how she was holding up at least a dozen times a day; it drove Cosima mad.

Her laptop had finally finished starting up. Going to her network preferences, Cosima had a look at the available Wi-Fi connections. All but one were password protected; a café close by had not secured their network. It was not fast, but it worked well enough.

Satisfied that getting online went so easily, Cosima sat back and waited for her sister to call. Yesterday, Sarah had texted Cosima, asking her to be available for a Skype call today. Cosima had found herself childishly excited to meet yet another one of her sisters. And, more importantly, Sarah would be able to answer a lot of the questions Cosima had forgotten to ask Alison. 

Across the store, Delphine was leafing through one of the books. She was chewing her bottom lip, completely engrossed in the content meant for children. The light behind her lit her hair on fire. Her curls had partially returned in the last week, messily framing her face. Delphine did not notice Cosima’s stare. She flipped the pages of her book, strolling slowly in front of the windows.

Unable to take her eyes off Delphine, Cosima absentmindedly rubbed her sore back. She tilted her head, frowning while she considered the source of her backache. It felt quite familiar, and yet Cosima could not tell how long her back had been hurting. Her first instincts told Cosima her period might have returned. Though she had not yearned for it the fact that her usually regular menstrual cycle had been so messed up for months now was a very bad sign, and she knew it. Even though she had been telling herself it might have been the stress, the medication, or maybe even the change in diet, Cosima knew that her body might be starting to fail to perform some of its natural functions.

In an attempt to get comfortable, Cosima reached a little higher on her back. It was definitely not pre-menstrual cramps; this pain was located far too high. The possibility had been there all along; her kidneys were slowing giving up. As if coughing up blood was not bad enough, now other vital organs were starting to fail Cosima as well. If they did not find a cure very soon, Cosima would need much more pressing medical attention than the optional extra oxygen.

Cosima sighed, causing Delphine to look up from her book at Cosima before she had taken her hand from her back. “Does your back ache?” 

“It’s nothing,” Cosima dismissed the question with a wave of her hand.

Delphine raised her eyebrows. “Cosima-” she said, before she was interrupted by an incoming Skype call on the clone’s laptop.

“That’s her,” Cosima ignored Delphine’s protest and accepted the call. “Hey Sarah.” Cosima smiled at the face mirrored on her screen.

The other clone greeted her in a similar fashion, smiling just as brightly at Cosima as Cosima was smiling at her. Both of them took a moment to just look at each other, and to take in the existence of yet another version of themselves.

After a few seconds, Sarah finally broke the silence. “How are you? How is the safe house S set up for you?” she asked. She leaned back a little, allowing the webcam to show her surroundings a bit more. There was bed a few feet behind her. The odd shape of the window above the bed, and the fake wood of the cupboards covering every inch of the walls indicated that Sarah was in an RV. The image of Felix camping with his sister seemed oddly out of place to Cosima, but she did not know the two siblings well enough to know whether Sarah and Felix going camping together was abnormal or not.

“Sure it is fine,” Cosima answered. As far as safe houses went, this place was much better than she would have expected it to be. “Tell Siobhan we said thank you very much.”

Sarah nodded. “Are you getting some sun now at least?” She inquired, as if afraid to ask her new sister how she was holding up after having been abducted. “You look like you could use it.”

“No. I’m good,” Cosima rushed to assure Sarah that she was as healthy as possible, considering the circumstances. Much like with Alison, Cosima did not want to worry her clone too much with the fatal disease, which they might carry as well. “I’m good. Where the hell are you?” Cosima had a million questions for her sister, but first she wanted to get to know her a little.

“I-” Sarah began, interrupted by a child running across the screen behind her. “Oi! Go play outside, yeah?” Sarah told the child, giving her a gentle push towards the door.

“Who was that?”

“My daughter,” Sarah answered. “Kira.”

Cosima looked up at Delphine, who was still standing on the customer side of the counter, unable to see Sarah, but clearly capable of hearing her. They simultaneously raised their eyebrows, and opened their mouths in surprise.

Stumbling in her haste, Delphine rounded the counter. “You have a child?” she asked Sarah. “A natural child?” She looked into the webcam.

On the other side, Sarah was taken slightly aback by Delphine’s sudden appearance. “Yeah, what’s it to you?”

Delphine exchanged another look with Cosima. “Because…” she started, but trailed off unsure of what to say.

Cosima continued, “We’re supposed to be infertile.”

Sarah did not seem particularly shocked by this information. She merely shrugged at the comment, leaning back into the couch. 

“But that means,” Delphine whispered Her eyes were opened wide as she stared at Sarah. “No, that is impossible.” She shook her head, not speaking to Cosima, but mumbling to herself as she tried to figure out what this meant.

Ignoring Delphine’s exaggerated state of shock, Cosima turned back to Sarah. “You already knew that the rest of us can’t have kids?” Cosima was still unsure of how much Beth had shared with this Sarah. With none of them aware of the wide-ranging biological implications that came with being clones, what little information they did possess was scattered across the three remaining clones. Cosima had no idea how much their combined knowledge was worth, and if it could save them. But if Sarah were somehow different than the rest of them, she and her child would be a biological goldmine, for both Cosima and their makers.

Sarah shrugged in answer to Cosima’s question. “Well, Alison adopted hers, and Beth’s boyfriend mentioned that she couldn’t have kids. So yeah, I sort of knew.”

“You spoke to Paul?” Cosima asked, moving a little to the side so that Delphine could sit down next to her.

Delphine sank down on the chair, not tearing her eyes from the screen. She was frowning, and followed the clones’ conversation silently.

Sarah nodded. “He was spying on her, did you know that?” Glancing at Delphine, she added, “It drove her mad. She killed herself because he couldn’t love her, and he wouldn’t leave her alone.”

“Really?” Cosima glanced at Delphine, who was looking down at her lap. “But she never mentioned that to me or Alison. If Beth knew she was being monitored, why didn’t she warn us?”

Again, Sarah shrugged. She shook her head. Of course she did not know. “She called me that night, saying she needed an alibi, asking if I could be her for a bit.” Sarah ran her hand through her hair, glancing at something behind her screen. “I did what she asked, but she never came back home. When I found out she had jumped, I stayed Beth. She was researching some things, and I needed to be a cop to figure out what she was on to.”

Cosima nodded; aside from the part where Beth needed an alibi, this was exactly what Alison had told her almost a week ago.

“Turns out Beth was in deep shite,” Sarah said. “I met with Alison, and we were just starting to work out some of it when Paul finally noticed I wasn’t who he thought I was.”

“Did he hurt you?” Cosima asked. She wished she had been there for her sisters, not only to save Beth, but also to help Sarah, who seemed to have had quite an intense time trying to fill Beth’s shoes.

Sarah toyed with a piece of paper in front of her, looking down at it. “No, I think he liked me more than he ever liked Beth.” She smiled sadly at Cosima. “They are after us though,” she said, her eyes darting in Delphine’s direction.

Cosima followed her sister’s glance.

Delphine was still sitting silently next to her, chewing on her lip as she was taking in all that Sarah was telling them.

“You mean DYAD is after you?” Cosima asked. “You and, uhm, Kira?”

“Yes, DYAD and others. Did Alison tell you about my twin?”

Delphine chuckled. When two identical surprized looking faces turned towards her, she said, “What? You’re all twins, in a way.”

“No, Sarah has an identical twin,” Cosima explained to Delphine. “Like shared a womb, born at the same time. That kinda twin.”

“Oh, sorry,” Delphine said. “I didn’t know.”

“Yeah, right.” Again, Sarah toyed with the piece of paper, nodding at Cosima’s explanation. “I didn’t know until I met my birth mom last week. She gave one of us to the government,” she pointed at herself, “And one of us to the church to hide us. Helena, my twin, is mental. She tried to abduct Kira. She murdered our mum, and tried to kill me too.” 

“Wow,” Cosima, “I, I don’t know how to respond to that.”

“She’s gone now though. Before she died, my mum gave me some ominous warning about my foster mum and this.” Sarah held up the piece of paper, which was an old picture of two scientists in a lab. “We were hiding from DYAD. Some hit man came and tried to grab Kira, I went with him instead. His name was Daniel, I think. He tried to get me to Rachel.”

Cosima felt Delphine tense next to her, as she reacted equally shocked.

“I crashed his car, and now we’re on the run, again, with Kira’s dad.”

“Holy shit, Sarah,” Cosima breathed deeply. Despite what DYAD had done to her, she had not expected any of her sisters to be abducted as well, especially the healthy ones.

“Yeah, so for now, I’m just texting as Daniel. Rachel still thinks I’m caught,” Sarah said. She seemed tired, but remarkably relaxed considering what had happened to her in the last few days.

“Okay, could you show us that photo again?” Cosima asked Sarah.

Sarah complied, holding it up for the two scientists to inspect and allowing Cosima to take a screenshot of the photo. She then turned it around so that they could read the text on the back.

“Project Leda,” Cosima read out loud. “You know the mythology of Leda and the swan?” 

While Delphine nodded solemnly, Sarah shook her head.

Cosima dove into a rambling monologue about the story of Leda, supported by her animated hand gestures. She only paused to apologize after she hit Delphine in the shoulder with a particularly wild gesture. “Weird, right?” Cosima concluded her story, looking first at Delphine and then at Sarah.

“Yeah, very weird,” Sarah said. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Project Leda,” Delphine repeated, as if that would clarify everything. When Sarah still did not seem to understand, she tried to explain. “I mean, it does sound very military, doesn’t it?”

“And what’s with that soldier in the background?” Cosima pointed out.

“What?” Sarah said. “You think the military created us?”

Delphine shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. I never noticed any military influences,” she said. “Before now.”

“I don’t know.” Cosima cleared her throat and thought for a moment. “But this could be key, Sarah.”

The three women were quiet for a moment, each of them in their own deep thoughts. Cosima ran her hands through her dreadlocks, as she tried to figure out the political side of their human cloning experiment. Though she had spent countless hours working on the science, the corporate side seemed just as ruthless.

Next to Cosima, sitting on the edge of the chair, Delphine was deeply engrossed in her own similar thoughts.

Sarah was the first to hesitantly break the silence. “I’m going to come back tonight.”

Surprised, Cosima let out a cough she had been holding in for a while. “Don’t you think that’s really dangerous?”

“Mrs. S lied straight to my face about project Leda. I need to know where she is. I need to know what she knows,” Sarah explained. “She’s key to all of this.”

“Okay, let us handle this Leda stuff,” Cosima said. “You just take care.”

Before they could say goodbye, Sarah had disconnected the call, leaving the two women in the bookshop with a blank screen. They both stared at it, unsure about what to say.

“Do you think she'll be all right?” Cosima asked Delphine.

“With DYAD on her heels?” Delphine asked. She turned to face Cosima, a sad smile on her face. “No.” She shook her head.

Cosima knew Delphine was probably right. But she barely knew her sister, and there was no way either of them could help Sarah without risking their own lives. Perhaps if they were able to understand their origins, all of them would be able to stop hiding. “Right, I think we have plenty to do trying to figure out what Leda means,” Cosima said, tilting her head and pulling her laptop closer to start her research.

“Cosima,” Delphine laid her hand on Cosima’s arm, stopping her typing. “What about finding a cure, for you and for your sisters?” She asked gently, trying to get Cosima to look her in the eyes.

“We don’t have the resources for that anyway,” Cosima said, staring stubbornly at her screen. She shook Delphine’s hand from her arm, and got back to the work that she actually might be able to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _À tes souhaits_ = Bless you (Lit: To your wishes)
> 
> Also, I should mention that I probably won't be able to update next week. I'm not completely sure yet, but I might be away.


	8. Delphine +10

They were sitting on a stack of pallets across the alley, in front of the door of their hideout. It was Monday night, or perhaps Tuesday already. Everybody working in the shops surrounding them had closed their stores hours ago. For a while, it had been busy in the alleyway, as people were heading home. And then, at last, Cosima and Delphine were all alone.

Having been stuck inside the damp, dark, and dusty bookshop for a couple of days, both women longed for a breath of fresh air. Around midnight, when they were absolutely sure that there would be no more unexpected late-night deliveries for any of the shops next to them, Cosima and Delphine had left the safety of their shelter.

They had installed themselves on a blanket on top of the pile of pallets. Aside from the scattered light from the streets further away, the alley was almost dark. The light pollution from the city obscured most of the stars, leaving them in almost complete darkness, to which they got accustomed to quite rapidly.

Sitting with their backs against against the brick wall, Cosima and Delphine had chatted for a while. Conversation was starting to become easier. At times, Delphine almost forgot that everything had changed between them. It never lasted very long though, and every time she remembered, it weighed her down a little more, leaving her aching all over.

The conversation, like almost all their exchanges these days, had turned to Cosima’s disease. Usually, it would be about finding a cure; Cosima never wanted to talk about how she was feeling. This time however, Cosima had almost jokingly mentioned her sore muscles, and the ever-present pain in her chest. She had once again brushed off Delphine’s worried reaction, saying she had something that would be more helpful than Delphine fretting over her.

So now they were soothing the aches in their bodies, sharing the comforting drug like they used to do so often. Their warm breath, mingled with smoke, formed bright white clouds in the darkness. Cosima was sitting cross-legged, her knee touching Delphine’s thigh just barely. In the cold night air, the spot on Delphine’s leg tingled with heat. While Delphine took the joint from Cosima, their fingers touched. She tried to think of anything to say that might lessen the tension, but her mind would focus on nothing but Cosima and how close she was. It had been so long since Cosima had not pushed Delphine away when she got close, Delphine had almost forgotten how good it felt.

Delphine laughed a throaty laugh.

“What?” Cosima asked. She turned her head towards Delphine. “What’s so funny?”

Delphine covered her mouth with her hand, trying to smother the loud noise. Why she had suddenly found it so funny, she did not know, but now that she had started laughing, it was hard to stop. “Sorry,” Delphine giggled. They were not supposed to be outside in the first place, and she definitely should not be so loud. Somebody might hear her and start asking questions. Delphine tried to get her laughter under control, but the almost alien feeling of amusement felt too good to stop.

“Dude, I think you’ve had enough,” Cosima said. She plucked the last of the joint from between Delphine’s fingers. She savoured the last bit, before putting it out. Now they were left alone in the darkness with nothing but the light from a small torch they had found in the tiny office. Cosima rubbed her back. With an almost indistinguishable grin she waited patiently until Delphine was silent again.

When Delphine was finally done laughing, Cosima was still gazing up at her with a grin. Her pale face was brilliantly clear in the darkness so close to Delphine.

“I, I just,” Delphine tried to explain what had been so funny. “I wonder what my family would think. If they saw me like this, I mean.” She leaned her head back against the cold bricks behind her. Slowly, she turned to face Cosima. “They still think I am working as a post-doc at a big pharmaceutical company. They are so proud of me, all by myself in the brave new world, doing ground-breaking research,” Delphine laughed wryly, what had seemed funny earlier, was suddenly nothing but pitiful. “Instead I am homeless, and on the run from a bunch of mad scientists, which I used to be one of. Getting high in a dark alley with the person I love more than I ever cared for myself.” Delphine stared at Cosima’s dark eyes behind her glasses. “But she is dying… And she hates me.”

In the darkness, Delphine could not see Cosima’s face well enough to gauge her reaction. The lack of a verbal response made the silent stare from Cosima the scariest thing in the world.

“I, I’m sorry,” Delphine stammered. How stupid was she, telling Cosima how tough a time she was having, when Cosima was the one who was dying?

Cosima’s hand came from nowhere out of the darkness, connecting softly with Delphine’s face. The warm fingers slowly stroked Delphine’s cheek, sliding up into her curls. “I know,” whispered Cosima, “And I could never hate you.” She pulled Delphine closer, until their lips touched.

Frozen in her spot, Delphine did not dare to move.

Cosima’s lips were cold and chapped. When Delphine did not react, Cosima did not pull away from her; instead she drew her a little closer, and held her a little tighter.

Delphine’s mind tried to catch up with the events, while everything seemed frozen in time. Cosima must have made a mistake; there was no way she had just initiated a kiss. Against her will, against her instincts, Delphine pulled away. “I am sorry,” she murmured.

“I know you are.” Cosima’s voice sounded bright and loud in the silence. “Just shut up about it, okay?” Again, she leaned towards Delphine, her hand still tangled in the messy curls.

“It is just…” Delphine tried to explain. Cosima should not be kissing her. Delphine was not worthy of her forgiveness, she never would be. And yet, she found herself trying to explain her reasoning again. “I’d rather live in a world where you hate me, than in one where you’re dead,” Delphine said. She bit her bottom lip, trying to keep it from trembling. 

“I get it, I do,” said Cosima. The hand in Delphine’s hair travelled back to her cheek, caressing her lip in passing, before wiping away a tear. Cosima took a deep breath. “I do understand why you did those things you did…” she said, her voice fading into the night. Once again, she pulled Delphine’s face towards her own, kissing her a little more forcefully this time.

This time, Delphine returned the kiss. After having dreamt about finally being able to kiss Cosima again, reality was so much better than imagination. Slowly, Delphine allowed herself to relax into Cosima. Her shaking hands moved towards Cosima’s face. And when Delphine felt Cosima’s tongue caressing her bottom lip, she did not hesitate to let Cosima in.

They moved like they used to, both still familiar with each other. Unconsciously, Delphine pulled Cosima higher, cupping her face between her hands.

Cosima’s hands wandered all over Delphine’s body, stroking and pulling as she tried to find her way under the several layers of warm clothes.

When Delphine felt the cold outside air touch her lower back, immediately followed by Cosima’s hot palms, she pulled back. “Hmm, maybe we should get inside,” Delphine said. She did not want to assume anything more was going to happen, but Cosima’s hands creeping higher underneath Delphine’s clothes told her enough. And besides, they were already pushing their luck, being outside their safe house for so long.

For a few seconds, Cosima contemplated the suggestion. Her head tilted, and the clouds of breath coming from her mouth touched Delphine’s face. “Yeah, maybe we should,” she said, when a particular loud police car sped by the entrance of the alley, a few hundred metres behind Cosima.

They climbed off the stack of pallets. Delphine collected the blanket, while Cosima’s hands sneaked back under Delphine’s clothes, this time wrapping around her waist from behind. “You got everything?” Cosima asked.

“I think so,” Delphine said. She smiled as she collected the now almost empty Altoids tin, and the torch, and turned around in Cosima’s embrace. After a quick peck on Cosima’s lips, she freed herself and walked back to the dumpster next to which she knew their entrance should be, pulling Cosima behind her. Even in bright daylight, it was invisible to find unless one knew what they were looking for, but in the dim light Delphine almost missed it, despite the fact that she knew exactly where it was. 

Once they were both inside, Cosima locked the door behind them. With a sly grin, she turned around to face Delphine. While she closed the distance between them, Cosima pulled her beanie from her dreads, and dropped it on the floor together with her red coat.

In the bright artificial light of the storage room, Delphine had once again lost all the courage that had returned to her when Cosima had kissed her. She nervously chewed her bottom lip, waiting for Cosima to tell her that it all had been a miscommunication; that she wanted nothing to do with Delphine.

Cosima did none of those things. Instead, she smiled up at Delphine, and unbuttoned the taller woman’s coat. She dropped it on the floor, on top of her own. Cosima ran her hands along Delphine’s arms. Stopping when they reached the wild curls, she pulled Delphine’s face down to meet her own. This time their kisses were slower, and much more deliberate.

Pulling Delphine with her, Cosima never broke their kiss while she moved backwards towards the dark office where the two mattresses were waiting. In between steps, Cosima kicked the pink trainers she had borrowed from Alison into a corner. Finally Cosima broke from Delphine so she could pull her sweater and the shirt over her head in one fluid motion. She took a few large strides back, crossing the threshold into the dark room.

Delphine hesitated for a moment; standing in the doorway she looked at Cosima in nothing but her tights and bra. She seemed otherworldly; her skin glowed brightly in the bluish light, while her remaining clothes and hair were barely distinguishable against the dark room. “Come,” Cosima whispered, beckoning Delphine to join her.

When Cosima smiled encouragingly, Delphine woke from her trance and closed the distance between them with two large steps. She grasped Cosima’s face, pulling the now barefoot woman almost off her feet when she kissed her fiercely. Delphine was still wearing heels, forcing Cosima to stand on the tips of her toes, as she clung tightly to Delphine to keep her balance.

Slowly, since they were in no hurry, they rediscovered each other. Neither of them spoke, for they had talked more than plenty in the last week. While Cosima had unconsciously started to forgive Delphine days ago, she had not been willing to admit it to herself, or to Delphine. She had come to see that Delphine would never believe Cosima if she ever told her that she forgave her; the immunologist could not forgive herself for what she had done in her attempt to save the clone. And thus, Cosima needed to show Delphine that she no longer blamed her. Cosima tried her best to convey such a message to Delphine without words, as her hands wandered over Delphine’s arms, down her back, ridding her of the flannel shirt. Then she made quick work of Delphine’s t-shirt and bra, throwing them next to her own clothes on the floor.

Allowing Cosima to set the pace, Delphine savoured every moment, knowing very well that it might be the last time she was allowed to see, or touch Cosima like this. They had talked so much about the cruel things Delphine had done in an attempt to save the clone’s life, Delphine could no longer find any words to apologize. So instead, she was silent and let her worship of Cosima’s body tell Cosima how much she regretted all the things she had done to her. Delphine pressed warm kisses along Cosima’s cheeks, down her neck, and across her shoulders, pouring all the love she had for her into every kiss.

Having rid Delphine of the clothes on the upper half of her body, Cosima’s hands undid Delphine’s belt and unzipped her jeans. While Delphine struggled with the resulting tangle of pants and shoes around her ankles and feet, Cosima added the last of her own clothes to the growing pile on the floor.

As soon as Delphine had freed herself from her clothes, she was taken by the hand and pulled towards the closest mattress. It was small, and far from soft, yet still more comfortable than the hard floor. Cosima laid down on the sleeping bag, pulling Delphine on top of her own body.

Delphine hovered over Cosima, afraid to hurt the frail clone with the full weight of her body. After fidgeting for a moment, she found a comfortable position leaning on her knees and elbow, while her bare skin connected with almost every part of Cosima’s body. Delphine used her free hand to caress Cosima’s face, and then lift her head ever so slightly for another kiss.

Cosima met her enthusiastically. She pulled Delphine’s bottom lip between her teeth, forcing Delphine down with her. While she snuck her tongue into Delphine’s mouth, she pulled the taller woman even closer, wrapping her legs around her waist.

Despite Cosima’s insistent attempts to pull her closer, Delphine refused to put her weight down on Cosima’s torso. She needed Cosima to be able to breathe. Propped up above the small body, Delphine once again started a trail of kisses from Cosima’s face down towards her chest. With the tips of her fingers she caressed Cosima’s breast, her face mere centimetres from her hand as she continued to graze her lips along Cosima’s skin.

With one hand tangled in Delphine’s curls, Cosima sighed softly. Her other hand fluttered around, trying to get a grip on the too smooth outside of the sleeping bag. The warm breath, and the deft fingers touching her left Cosima heated to her core. It seemed like forever since Cosima had been touched with such pure devotion. Overwhelmed with the overpowering want for more, Cosima pulled Delphine up by her hair. “Delphine,” she mumbled.

“Yes?” Delphine mumbled, she had been so deeply entranced by what she had been doing, she had no idea how often Cosima had called her name already. Delphine lifted her head to look up at Cosima. Her dark eyes were filled were with sudden concern as she stared into Cosima’s eyes. “What is it?” she asked. “Do you want me to stop?” Suddenly, she was worried that Cosima had not meant for this to happen. Why would the clone want to be touched by the hands that had hurt her so? Delphine found her heart racing for entirely new reasons, as she was already starting to pull back, waiting for Cosima to scold her.

Cosima shook her head, smiling gently up at Delphine. Taking her hand, Cosima guided Delphine to where she wanted to be touched most. Softly, she whispered Delphine’s name into the darkness. Cosima’s hot breath touched Delphine’s lips the same moment Delphine’s hand touched the soft wetness she found between Cosima’s legs. When Cosima let go of her hand, Delphine’s confidence grew.

Encouraged, Delphine pressed on. She slid her fingers along the familiar folds, taking the time to reacquaint herself with all of Cosima before she slowly entered her. Observing Cosima’s face closely, Delphine got into an old rhythm.

Every touch she gave to Cosima, Delphine felt echoed in her own body. The sensation was too weak to bring any relief; it wound her in tighter knots, making her crave to be touched. Delphine ignored her own desire in favour of focusing on pleasuring Cosima. How she had missed being so close to the woman she loved so very much. To be trusted unconditionally with Cosima’s body. Delphine lost herself completely in the sensation of Cosima’s entire body wrapped around her own.

Suddenly, without warning, Cosima rolled them both over onto their sides. She had Delphine pinned against the wall, while her legs were still wrapped around Delphine’s waist and Delphine’s fingers were still buried deep inside Cosima. 

The clone adjusted them slightly in order to create a little space between them, so she could mimic Delphine’s actions. Unhurried, but without hesitating, Cosima reached between Delphine’s legs. Breathing deeply, she mirrored Delphine’s early ministrations.

Quickly, Delphine returned to what she had been doing earlier. This time, there was no faint echo; Cosima’s deft hands copied Delphine’s movements exactly, forcing her rapidly towards the edge.

Far too soon did Cosima stiffen against Delphine, shuddering softly. Delphine had wanted it to last forever, the two of them intertwined, with every possible square centimetre of their bare skin touching, and Cosima’s mouth moving against her own. Once she had come down from her own high, the small woman took a deep shaky breath and curled her fingers inside Delphine. With a sly grin, she finished what she had started within minutes, leaving Delphine whimpering as she tried to return Cosima’s kisses. 

After a final lingering kiss, Cosima laid her head down on Delphine’s chest. Her warm, shallow breaths raised goose bumps on Delphine’s skin. Cosima wrapped her arms around Delphine’s waist, pulling her a little closer. She smiled contently, wrapped safely in Delphine’s long limbs.

The cold wall pressed against Delphine’s naked back, but Cosima warmed the front of her body. The sleeping bag had ended up tangled around their feet, providing them with very little to warm them. Delphine was still panting slightly. Her fingers traced lazy patterns across Cosima’s bare back. She trailed the bumps of the clone’s spine down to her tailbone, and danced back up again across her ribs. Cosima had lost a lot of weight; she had always been small, but Delphine did not recall her skin being stretched so tight across her bones.

“Hey,” Cosima said, while she lifted her head from Delphine’s chest. “Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?” Cosima asked. She was now fully propped up on her elbow, leaning half over Delphine. She must be lying on the edge of the small mattress, if not half on the floor. Her warm hand trailed over Delphine’s stomach, until it found Delphine’s hand and intertwined with it. 

“Hmm,” Delphine looked down at their hands. “I am fine.” Her eyes followed Cosima’s hand, up her arm, until she finally saw Cosima’s face. She smiled generously at Cosima.

Cosima bent forward, returning the smile. “’Cause it has been a while since you cried after sex,” she teased Delphine, squeezing her hand softly.

Delphine rolled her eyes at the comment. It had been centuries ago when, a couple of days after they had first met, Delphine had been so overwhelmed with what had just happened, that she had spontaneously burst into tears after the first time they had made love. The feeling that caused her to weep again tonight was quite similar; the trust Cosima showed her now was too much for Delphine. Her throat tightened painfully, and the tears rolled across her cheeks.

“It’s okay,” Cosima said. She let go of Delphine’s hand in favour of wiping the tears away.

Biting her lip, Delphine nodded.

Still hovering above her, Cosima smiled reassuringly. Cosima’s loose dreadlocks tickled Delphine’s bare chest, and her hot breath tickled Delphine’s left shoulder. Slowly and deliberately, Cosima kissed Delphine. Her hand was once again tangled in the blonde curls.

When Delphine wrapped her arms around Cosima, trying to pull her closer, Cosima broke their kiss. Quickly, she brushed her lips on Delphine’s forehead, before she got up from their bed on the floor.

“Hmm,” Delphine protested. “Where are you going?”

In the process of getting up from the bed, Cosima had collected the oversized flannel shirt Delphine had been wearing from the pile of clothes on the floor. She was now pulling it on. She did not bother with the buttons, but simply wrapped it around her. “To pee,” Cosima said.

Delphine sat upright. “Now?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Cosima said, as glanced down at Delphine while she put her glasses on. “I really don’t need an UTI with my crappy immune system.”

“Of course,” Delphine mumbled. She pulled the blanket up over her legs to cover herself up to her waist. Now Cosima was no longer with her in bed, Delphine noticed the damp cold again. “Don’t be long.”

Cosima smiled down at Delphine before she maneuvered between the things littered on the floor to the toilet in the next room. “Besides, my kidneys are already starting to give out, so a bladder infection will be the death of me and that is not the way I want to go,” she said from the other room.

“What?” Alarmed, Delphine jumped out of bed. “What did you just say?” Not bothering with clothes, Delphine ran after Cosima.

The door to the tiny toilet was already shut, and Cosima was nowhere to be seen.

“Cosima!” Delphine knocked on the door. “What did you say? Are you all right? Please, open the door.”

“Come on, I’m peeing. Leave me be,” Cosima said. “This relationship is not there yet.”

Impatiently, Delphine paced the cold tiles until Cosima was done. When the bathroom door finally opened again, Delphine launched into a heavy rambling. “Cosima, what do you mean? Your albumin and creatinine ratio was normal the last time we checked, two weeks ago. And you’re not anaemic, are you?” Delphine followed Cosima to the sink. “Are you in pain?”

Wiping her hands dry on her shirt, Cosima looked up at Delphine. “A little, okay.” She took Delphine’s hands in her own, and stood on her tiptoes to give Delphine a tender kiss on her lips. “Can you please not worry about it? It is totally annoying, and it doesn’t help me. Besides, I will probably die of my dysfunctional lungs long before my kidneys will give out,” Cosima said, still standing on the tips of her toes, her face mere centimetres from Delphine’s.

Delphine swallowed, and nodded bravely. Cosima was right, it was no use to worry; she would be of much more help to the clone if she could just cure her. “Come back to bed with me?” Delphine asked, focusing on what she could do for Cosima right now.

“Yes please,” Cosima said. She did not let go of Delphine’s hands, as she walked back to the bed in the other room. She pulled Delphine down onto the hard mattress, covering them both with the sleeping bag before settling down in the taller woman’s arms.

With Cosima wrapped safely in her arms, Delphine could not force her own brain to shut down. She buried her nose in the dreadlocks, taking in Cosima’s sweet smell. The tears tickled Delphine’s cheeks. If the clone disease had truly spread from Cosima’s uterus, via her lungs, all the way to her kidneys, it would be a matter of months, maybe even weeks before she was beyond saving. Wallowing in self-pity, Delphine tried not to think of what it would be like to watch Cosima wither away and leave her all alone. There had to be a way to find her a cure, but what could Delphine do without the help of those who made the defected clones all those years ago?

Softly, Delphine kissed Cosima’s scalp. She wrapped her arms a little tighter around the sleeping woman; settling in for another sleepless night tormented by the nightmares her own waking mind kept repeating to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UTI = urinary track infection. I sincerely hope I don’t need to explain UTI’s, but I realized that I have never read a fanfic in which people with vaginas pee after sex. I know UTI prevention is not exactly sexy, but still very important. Is it just me, or has anybody else noticed the lack of urinating after smut in fanfics? Bonus points for those of you that can find me a fic where anybody with a vagina pees after sex (and not in a kinky way).
> 
> And for those who are confused, (which is totally fine btw, I know very well how privileged I am to have grown up with excellent sex-ed, and also I did not know the word for this in English) urinating after sexual acts (not necessarily penetration) cleans the urethra from any bacteria that might have been rubbed into it. These bacteria could cause a painful infection (the aforementioned UTI), which could potentially travel further into the bladder, and perhaps even into the kidneys. A kidney infection can be lethal, but hardly ever occurs, since a UTI is very easily treatable, and even easier to prevent. Infections spread faster, and thus can become more serious, when the person has an immune defect, such as Cosima has.
> 
> All that said, I obviously did not include that into this fic just for the sake of trying to normalize urinating after sex, there was another point, but I’ll leave figuring that out up to you.


	9. Cosima +11

Cosima sat up. She heard a noise in the darkness. A scratching sound moved around the room. She could not quite figure out where the sound had come from, but it had been loud enough to wake her up.

“What’s wrong?” Delphine asked, fumbling around in the dark for Cosima. “Are you all right?” She sounded very awake, as if she had not been sleeping at all. Yet, she did not even sit up. Delphine remained lying down, like she was not at all alarmed by the strange sound. 

“Don’t you hear that?” Cosima whispered into the darkness. She could feel Delphine’s warm legs next to hers, and Delphine’s hand now rested on her own. The sleeping bag had slid off them, which left the further naked Cosima feeling very vulnerable. “Somebody is there.” It sounded as if somebody was walking rapidly around the room, dragging their feet.

Due to the lack of windows it was hard to estimate what time it was and, what was even worse, Cosima was completely blind in the pitch-black darkness. Crawling half out of bed, she dug through the pile of clothes they had left on the floor last night. Cosima could hear her heart pounding in her chest, drowning out the other sounds in the room.

Finally, Delphine sat up. “Hey, Cosima.” Her hand lightly touched Cosima’s back, making her jump. “What are you doing? Calm down.”

“A light, I need a flashlight,” Cosima said, not stopping her search. She knew she had dropped it on the floor somewhere when she had taken her clothes off last night. At last, her fingers connected with something solid. It was not the flashlight, but a cell phone. Not as bright, but it was better than nothing.

Trembling, Cosima turned the screen on, shining the dim light around the room. There was nobody there except for Delphine. The sound had stopped, making Cosima wonder whether it had been her imagination.

“What’s wrong, Cosima?” Delphine asked again.

Cosima turned around. She sat back down on the mattress, taking her knees from the cold, hard floor. “I don’t know. Did you not hear that noise? The scratching, I think somebody found us.”

Delphine giggled softly. She was sitting with her legs folded underneath her. “Those are mice,” she said. Her hand was still resting on Cosima’s back, stroking small circles. “They have been here every night, did you not hear them before?”

“No.” Cosima leaned into Delphine, enjoying the warmth. “I was asleep every other night.” She let the light from the phone shine around the room again, confirming once again that there was nobody besides the two of them in there. “Are you sure those were mice? It was very loud.”

Delphine pulled the sleeping bag over Cosima and wrapped her arms around her. “Yes, I’m sure,” she said. Delphine pressed a kiss onto Cosima’s still bare shoulder. “Mice aren’t as quiet as people seem to think.”

Cosima frowned. She turned around to kiss Delphine before she got up. Quickly, she checked the other rooms, shining the light into every corner. She did not find anybody, nor did she hear anything again.

While Cosima had been tiptoeing around the creepy dark store looking underneath shelves and behind closets, Delphine had found the flashlight. She was wrapped in the sleeping bag, waiting for Cosima. “All clear?” she asked when Cosima came back.

A brief nod from the still startled clone was all the answer she got.  
In the darkness, the bags underneath Delphine’s eyes were terrifyingly clear. She was leaning against the wall, and supressed a yawn. “Come here,” she mumbled. It was not a command, it was a supplication.

Shivering in the unheated room, Cosima did not hesitate. She crawled under the covers with Delphine. Sitting upright, the sleeping bag could not cover them both. The small, feather filled fabric only covered their upper bodies, leaving their legs exposed. “Have you slept at all since we got here?” Cosima asked. 

“A little,” Delphine admitted. She lied down, pulling Cosima with her so that she could cover them both with the sleeping bag. Reaching behind Cosima, she checked whether the clone’s back was fully covered with the blanket before she laid her head down next to Cosima’s. “This isn’t the comfiest place to sleep.”

“Hmm,” Cosima was unsure whether Delphine was referring to the thin mattress or the safe house in general. “It’s better together.” She sneaked her arm around Delphine’s waist, pulling her a little closer.

Delphine nodded her agreement. She breathed slowly, looking at Cosima in the light of the flashlight, still lying behind the clone on the floor. Her fingers softly caressed Cosima’s cheek.

“Why were you awake?” Cosima asked. “Besides, like, physical discomfort, I mean.”

“I just…” Delphine said. She thought for a moment, biting her lip. Her hand still wandered across Cosima’s face, until it suddenly gently grasped the back of the clone’s head and pulled her close. In the near darkness, Delphine had overestimated the distance between them, and their lips crashed together slightly harder than Cosima had expected. When Delphine pulled back, this time a little slower, she pressed their foreheads together. “I’m worried.”

“About?” Cosima asked, even though she already knew the answer.

“You.” 

Cosima rolled her eyes. “Right, of course you are,” she said. She stretched her legs along Delphine’s. The tips of her toes barely reached Delphine’s ankles. Searching for some warmth for her still cold feet, Cosima tucked her feet under Delphine’s legs.

“Please don’t mock me for that,” Delphine whispered. She sounded vulnerable, her accent thick and her voice broken when it neared the end of the sentence.

“I’m not,” Cosima answered immediately. She wrapped her arms around Delphine, cradling Delphine’s head in the hollow of her own shoulder with her right hand. With her left she held Delphine close. “I’m worried too,” Cosima admitted. She despised being so vulnerable. There was no longer a point in denying to Delphine that her body was failing her after what she had admitted last night. Cosima was feeling a little worse every day, and there was so little either of them could do. 

“ _Je t’aime._ ” The three syllables, whispered into Cosima’s shoulder, reverberated deep into her chest. They seeped through her veins, filling her sore lungs with hot air. It mended the hole in Cosima’s heart. The simple sentence warmed Cosima from the small patch of skin where Delphine’s lips touched her, to the very tips of her toes.

“Is that why you didn’t stop them from kidnapping me?”

Delphine nuzzled her nose deeper into Cosima’s chest, pressing her face as close to Cosima as she possibly could. “Yes.”

“Is that why you’re still looking for a cure?”

For a moment, Delphine remained silent. Then, she moved her head from its comfortable hiding spot against Cosima, and looked the clone in the eyes. “Cosima, it’s your life.” In the almost darkness, her eyes focused first on Cosima’s left, then her right eye, and back. She seemed desperate, with tears in the corners of her eyes.

“It’s not just that,” Cosima answered. “It’s all of us. You have to love all of us.”

“Then I love all of you,” Delphine said, this time not wasting a second before she spoke. She was determined, as she had always been when it came to Cosima.

“Good,” Cosima said. She had no more reasons to not believe Delphine. The immunologist had followed her this far, and the intensity of her declaration left no room for doubt. “Because, if you betray any of us ever again, I have enough dirt on you to destroy your entire life,” Cosima half jokingly added. She did not need to blackmail Delphine, but Sarah and Alison might enjoy that sense of security, even if nobody would believe them. With a soft grin, Cosima tried to lighten the serious conversation. “And I love you too.”

With almost palpable relief, Delphine smiled brightly. The corners of her mouth nearly touched her ears, as she beamed at Cosima’s statement. Both wanting to savour the moment, they simply stared at each other.

At last, Delphine broke the silence. “The treatment they gave you, it wasn’t a permanent fix. It isn’t going to last you for much longer,” she said. She twirled a dreadlock between her thumb and index finger, holding it up in the darkness. “I’m trying to help,” she whispered. “Tell me what you want.”

Cosima thought for a minute, trying to figure out what exactly she wanted. For things to be like they used to be, that would be nice. Or at least not to die of an untreatable disease while hunted by rogue scientists, but perhaps even that was too much to ask for. “I want a cure. If not for me, then for my sisters,” Cosima told Delphine. “Promise me you will keep searching for a cure after I’m gone.”

Delphine searched for the meaning behind Cosima’s words. Was she really that naïve, did she still believe they could concoct a cure by themselves, Cosima wondered. “You’re not going to die,” Delphine said. “I won’t let you.” Perhaps she was just stubborn, but that was one of the many things Cosima loved about her.

Cosima nodded, if that was what Delphine wanted to believe, she would let her.

For a moment they were both silent. Cosima traced the curve of Delphine’s hipbone back and forth. She was buried deep under the blanket, only her head peeking out; finally her body was warm again. It was mostly thanks to Delphine, who had always been happy to warm Cosima’s cold feet and hands at night. Breathing deeply, Cosima inhaled the scent of Delphine. The sweet smell, in combination with the warm embrace, made Cosima feel safer than she had thought she would ever again be.

When she exhaled, the tickle in her throat became suddenly unbearable. It had been bothering her all night, but with Delphine’s face so close, Cosima had held back the cough. Now, she could no longer hold it in. Sputtering, she turned her face away. The coughs shook her body, choking her breath while they seemed to go on forever.

Delphine stiffened immediately after the first cough. Her grip on Cosima’s arm tensed, but she remained silent until Cosima was breathing normally again. “Are you okay?” she asked. “Do you need a tissue?”

“No,” Cosima’s voice was rough. “No, I’m good.” There had been no blood, this time. Cosima took a few careful breaths, while Delphine observed her with a worried frown.

“Would you like some breakfast?” Delphine asked, changing the subject when she saw that Cosima was breathing normally again. “Maybe some tea, for your throat?” She started to get up, pushing herself up on her arms. The movement lifted the shared blanked slightly, causing cold air to seep underneath.

Cosima scrunched her nose, shaking her head. “No, thanks,” she said. She laid her hand on Delphine’s bicep, gently pulling her back down. “Just sleep with me for a bit longer, please.” Cosima drew the sleeping bag back up, while tugging Delphine close in one smooth movement. “It’s still hella early.”

Delphine nodded, “Okay.” She pressed a kiss to Cosima’s nose, and then another one to her forehead. She sighed deeply, blinking lazily. Then finally, she laid her head down next to Cosima’s on the sweatshirt they used as a pillow in lack of a real one.

Reaching behind her, Cosima found the flashlight. She searched for the off-switch, and when she found it at last, she turned it off. The immediate darkness surrounded the both of them. Cosima pulled her hand back under the blanket, laying it against Delphine’s warm chest. She could feel the strong heart beat, and the steady deep breaths.

Delphine was already sleeping. She did not notice Cosima twisting a curl between her fingers, enjoying the sensation. She did not react when Cosima softly kissed her mouth.

Cosima swallowed another cough. She did not want to wake the tired doctor. Trying to get comfortable on the small mattress, Cosima allowed her exhausted body to relax. Even though she had slept extraordinary amounts the last couple of weeks, she was still tired enough to sleep.

Matching her breath with Delphine’s slow and steady pace, Cosima basked in the refreshing safeness of Delphine’s embrace. Perhaps things were not that bad, at least she still had Delphine. And whatever Delphine had done in the past, Cosima resolved to enjoy the few good things she still had, for whatever time she had left, instead of dwelling on those things she could not change. And if they managed to find a cure in the mean time, like Delphine seemed so sure of, Cosima would most definitely not complain.

Just before Cosima fell asleep, she heard the mouse scurrying back around the floor. It seemed silly now how extremely she had reacted to the sound, which was so obviously a tiny rodent, not a team of DYAD scientists coming to drag her back to that prison.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mice are very loud creatures when you’re trying to sleep, take it from somebody who grew up in a really old house.
> 
> And a shameless self-promotion; if you want something fluffy without drama: [see here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7972885).


	10. Delphine -975

The air was still fresh in the early spring morning, but Delphine knew it would get hot and dusty in only few weeks when summer started. She closed her eyes against the bright light for a moment when she reached street level. All around Delphine, people like her were exiting the metro station.

Delphine turned right, and walked along the cast iron exit of the metro station. She had been in this area of the city only a few times since she moved to Paris. The first time had been to visit the company that had been incredibly adamant to recruit her. Then once again for that networking evening she had been invited to by Dr. Leekie himself, when she had finally given in and accepted his job offer. The latest time had been about a week ago, when she had signed her contract and received another, more business like tour of the facility.

She was in no hurry; there was plenty of time left for the short walk to the research facility of the DYAD institute. After crossing the street, Delphine turned left. Most of the earlier crowd had disappeared in other directions, leaving Delphine to enjoy the warm sunshine almost alone. The first leaves were already starting to appear on the many plane trees lining the edges of the sidewalk, adding a green glow to the light. The buildings, a mixture of very old and relatively new, were mostly offices of varying kinds. Some of them were much smaller, and a few were a bit larger than the one Delphine was heading towards.

After having walked a few blocks, turning corners at the appropriate moments, Delphine reached her destination. She was still early, but she decided not to linger outside for a smoke. Delphine did not want to risk being even a little bit late for her first day at her new job.

Gripping her bag a bit stronger, Delphine took the four steps in front of the door without further hesitation. She opened the door, entering the small lobby. While she fished for her employee card in her pocket, the receptionist greeted her, “ _Bonjour, docteur Cormier._ ”

For a moment, Delphine was taken aback that this stranger knew her name already. With a polite smile, Delphine recovered and said, “ _Allô._ ” 

While the receptionist watched her, Delphine cautiously approached the elevators and held her card in front of the reader. The tiny light turned green, and one of the elevators opened.

With a last nod at the receptionist, who was still watching her intently, Delphine let herself be carried to the fourth floor. There, she quickly found her office space, and the desk, which had been assigned to her last week.

After hanging her coat on the rack next to the door, and dropping her bag on her desk, Delphine sat down in her new chair. The entire building was quiet; she had been earlier than she thought. Swirling in the chair, Delphine had a good look around the office. Most of the actual work would be done in the state-of-the-art laboratories on the floors below, which she had seen only once before.

The French branch of DYAD was not very large. According to the information Delphine found when researching the potential new employer, their research facilities in Germany, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, and of course Canada were at least five times as large. Still, Delphine decided to have a look around before it got busy.

She left the office, walking along a few other similar rooms. In some of these rooms, her new colleagues had just arrived and were getting ready for another day of work, but most desks were still empty. The top floor was solely used for offices and the like, while the floors below it contained a wide array of laboratories. Delphine wandered through the old building for a moment, until she reached the large meeting room. This was where most of the people had been during that networking event Delphine had attended a few weeks ago. Then it had been dimly lit to set the mood, people had been standing all around the room, chatting and drinking. There had been a few talks by lead scientists; it had been overcrowded. 

This time, there was only one person sitting in the room. Through the glass wall separating the corridor from the meeting room, Delphine could see him sitting at the high end of the large table, engrossed in his work. There was an empty coffee cup on top of a pile of papers next to his laptop. The sound of his typing was just audible through the slightly opened door.

Delphine recognized him as the man who was responsible for her being here. She had met Dr. Leekie at a conference about six months ago, after one of his talks. Delphine had introduced herself to him afterwards. The Canadian scientist had proved even more of a brilliant conversationalist when Delphine spoke with him in person, and they had continued their conversation over dinner. Dr. Leekie was passionate about his own work, which he described as self-directed evolution, but he was no less interested in Delphine. And when Dr. Leekie had heard about her host-parasite research, he had mentioned the DYAD institute and he had casually offered her a job as a junior immunologist at their research facility in Paris.

At the time, Delphine had been apprehensive about taking the offer. She had never before heard of the DYAD institute, or Dr. Leekie. However, after a bit of research, Delphine had been convinced that the institute was at the top of most medical and biological fields. Though she had been unsure why she had never heard of them, Delphine had decided she wanted to be part of such ground-breaking research. She had called Dr. Leekie, and he had arranged a private tour of the building. Even though Dr. Leekie had never mentioned what exactly Delphine would do, he had been convincing enough for Delphine to quit her old job and move from Lille to Paris.

Delphine opened the glass door further. With a soft knock she announced her presence, prompting the tall man to look up.

“Ah, Delphine!” he exclaimed when he recognised her at once. “ _Bonjour,_ ” he said, drawing the fake French accent, to the point where Delphine wondered whether he was mocking her language.

“Good morning, Doctor Leekie,” Delphine answered politely in English. She walked around the end of the table, to have a look out of the window. The third floor was just at top of the canopy, and the young leafs already obstructed most of the view of the street.

Behind Delphine, Aldous Leekie closed his laptop and stretched his back. “How do you like our humble research facility?”

“It looks wonderful,” Delphine said. She turned away from the window to face Dr. Leekie. “But I’m still not sure what it is exactly that we do here.”

“Right, of course.” Dr. Leekie stood up from his seat and sauntered along the long table towards Delphine. “Since we try to remain ahead of our competitors, we disclose as little information on our research as possible. That includes both future and current employees,” he explained. By the time he had finished his monologue, he was standing right in front of Delphine with a smooth smile.

“I understand,” Delphine said, even though she was not entirely sure she completely understood what he was saying. How was she supposed to contribute to any scientific project when she was unaware of what exactly she was doing? The secrecy surrounding DYAD had made it seem like a thrilling challenge, but now that there was no turning back, Delphine was starting to become uncomfortable with the lack of information. “But I must know what I’m doing, no?” she asked, answering Dr. Leekie’s smile with an equally smooth one, as she batted her eyelashes at him.

“Ah, excellent point,” Dr. Leekie said. His hand rested on the small of her back as he gently pushed her back in the direction of the door. “Walk with me, I’ll explain to you what you must know.”

Delphine preceded her new boss towards the exit. She was still unsure whether Dr. Leekie was actually her boss, or what his position at DYAD was. He carried himself, and others acted around him as if, he was the one in charge. Yet, he had never introduced himself as anything but Dr. Aldous Leekie, and Delphine had a vague hunch that there were more people pulling the strings above Aldous Leekie.

They walked along the corridor, passing Delphine’s work spot. “You must understand, that what I’m about to tell you, you must never discuss with anybody besides your colleagues,” Dr. Leekie said casually, as if he was discussing the weather with her.

Uncomfortably, Delphine chewed on her lip. “Nobody?” she asked, despite knowing the answer.

“Nobody.” Dr. Leekie led her down the stairs to the second floor. “You will sign a few non-disclosure forms after our talk. And believe me when I say that DYAD will uphold our end of that contract if you choose to share any information with outsiders,” he grinned at her, and opened the door to one of the laboratories with his card. He held the door open, and motioned for Delphine to enter.

Her curiosity overpowered any doubts Delphine had, and she went into the room. It was not a particularly large lab, but it was fully equipped with any medical research equipment Delphine could think off. Everything was shiny and appeared brand new. The immunologist inspected the room with an open mouth, amazed by the possibilities she saw. 

“This is one of the labs you’ll be working in,” Dr. Leekie said behind her as he shut the door. “I’m sure your new colleagues will show you around later.”

“ _Bien s¬ûr,_ ” Delphine mumbled, she walked further into the room with her hands in her pockets so that she would not accidentally ruin any order in the immaculate room.

After allowing her a short moment to look around, Dr. Leekie spoke again. “You’re lucky that I’m here today, this way I can personally explain our little project to you.”

Delphine turned around, looking across the room at the older man for an explanation.

“I assume you remember my talk about Neolution.” Dr. Leekie said. He walked towards her, folding his hands in front of him.

With a nod, Delphine recalled the day she had met Dr. Leekie a couple of months ago. “I do. And I’ve read your book since we last met,” she said.

“Which one?”

She had not known Dr. Leekie had written more than one book. She made a mental note to look up the rest of his publications, while she answered, “The one about self-directed evolution.”

“Perfect,” Dr. Leekie said with a smile. He was now standing directly in front of her again. “So then you are aware of my personal quest to perfect the human genome.”

Delphine nodded with a frown. When she had heard his talk, and during their conversation afterwards, she had thought it was all hypothetical science, big dreams, and perhaps some small tweaking. Now, she was starting to doubt those assumptions.

With the same charismatic conviction, Dr. Leekie continued his explanation. “In order to improve and understand the human genome, some thirty years ago, after lengthy and arduous experimentation, few of our scientist managed to create several clones of a living human being.”

“Impossible.”

“No, it is not. And you know it. The proof of our success is alive and thriving all over the world,” Dr. Leekie retorted. “The clones, our subjects, live ordinary lives, completely unaware of their immeasurable scientific importance. We keep track of them, of course; we observe their daily lives, and we document their health.”

Delphine’s mind spun as she tried to wrap her brain around the idea that human cloning was not only possible, it was already done as well. She stared at the scientist standing in front of her, trying to figure out whether he was just joking. His serious, and clearly proud expression told her enough. Quickly accepting the idea of human cloning, Delphine attempted to grasp the extent of this revelation. “Is that even allowed?”

“Dr. Cormier, carrying human clones to full-term is not legal, not in France, or most other Western countries,” he said, raising his eyebrow at her question. “But I’m sure you can understand why we overlook the ethical concerns out of a eugenical perspective.”

“Yes,” Delphine said, at a loss for words. “But- but they don’t even know?”

“No, we can’t risk them talking.” Dr. Leekie dismissed the idea with a wave of his hand. 

Delphine understood that. Self-aware clones would surely tell others, and worse, they would want to meet their counterparts. And thus, keeping them in the dark made sense if they were observing the influence of nurture as well; mingling of the clones would mean that they would adopt each other’s unique habits, if they had those. “What about their parents’?”

Dr. Leekie frowned. “What about them?”

“Do they know?”

“Of course not, don’t be stupid,” Dr. Leekie sneered. He was clearly starting to lose his patience with her questions. “Aside from a very select group of scientists, of which you are now part, nobody knows. Not even the clones’ monitors.”

Delphine nodded. She had a dozen more questions, and more were surfacing every second she tried to understand what the Neolutionist had just told her, but she would save them for her colleagues, for later.

For a moment, they both were silent. Then Dr. Leekie continued his explanation. “Despite the fact that most of our clones are adults by now, the science of human cloning is still in its infancy,” he said, laying his hand on her arm. “We are encountering some health issues which we had not anticipated.”

“Health issues?” Delphine could not help but ask.

“I’m not going to explain it to you now. Once you sign the confidentiality agreement, you will gain access to their medical reports. If you have any questions about it then, you can ask one of your colleagues,” was Dr. Leekie’s constrained answer.

“All right.”

Dr. Leekie’s hand slid down Delphine’s arm, he smiled again and leaned towards her. “Delphine, I need you to figure out whether their medical concerns are genetically predisposed, and if they are a side effect of the cloning process, or not,” he almost whispered to her. “And, more importantly, I need you to find a cure for my clones.”

Still slightly stunned by the tremendous amount of information she had just received, Delphine nodded.

Immediately, Dr. Leekie’s smile widened. He pushed her towards the door once again. “Do you understand now that we can’t share what we do here?” he asked, as he held the door open for Delphine to exit.

“Yes, I get it.” The ethical concerns would be reason enough for these experiments to be shut down, but the knowledge gained would be more than worth keeping her mouth shut. The project was fascinating, despite it being shrouded in secrecy.

“Good, because if you tell anybody about this, your career is over,” Dr. Leekie said, with a grin as if he was joking, but his eyes told Delphine that he was serious. “Some overly moralistic politicians have decided that we’re not allowed to do what we do here. Now that you're involved, dear Delphine, you will go down with us if anybody finds out.” He squeezed Delphine’s hand.

“I see,” Delphine said. What had she gotten herself into? She could not wait to actually dive into the tasks Dr. Leekie had just given her, yet she could not help but wonder at what cost her new job would come.

“Wonderful,” Dr. Leekie said, and gestured at the stairs back towards the offices. “Now, let’s sign those agreements and you can finally get to work.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a flashback to roughly two years before Cosima and Delphine ran away from DYAD (day 0 of this fic), and 720 days before they met (day 0 of Parallelism Between the Effects of Changed Conditions of Life).


	11. Cosima -136

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another flashback, this time between chapter 15 and 16 of Parallelism Between the Effects of Changed Conditions (day 119 after they met), while Delphine was in “France” and Cosima was still unaware.

Cosima stretched her legs across the large bed. It was late in the afternoon, and she had just gotten home from her afternoon lecture. She had intended to drop her things off and change her clothes, before going out again, but somehow she had just ended up half-dressed in bed talking to Delphine. For as long as Delphine was all the way in France for a funeral, the only way for them to talk were afternoon Skype sessions, or late at night from Delphine’s perspective. Of course, they texted during the day, but it was not the same.

The slightly overheated laptop next to Cosima did not warm her in the same way Delphine’s body did, but her smile on the screen as she talked to Cosima about her day made up for it.

Once Delphine reached the end of her story, Cosima sat up. “Dude, isn’t it like two a.m. there?” The sun might still be shining in the Bay Area, but Delphine looked tired from a long day.

“Uhm,” Delphine touched her phone screen, probably to check the time. “Yes, it is.” She smiled sheepishly at Cosima. 

“You really should go to bed,” Cosima said.

Delphine tilted her phone, showing her a little more of her surroundings. “I am in bed,” she said. It was true; she had been sitting on top of the crumpled plain white sheets in her parents’ guest bedroom.

“Go to sleep, babe.”

Yawning, Delphine replied, “Okay.” She was already wearing the t-shirt she had borrowed from Cosima without her having been aware. When Cosima had noticed the first time they had Skyped a week ago, Delphine had said she liked sleeping with some part of Cosima. As some form of revenge, Cosima now wore a far too big shirt of Delphine to sleep in.

Only one more week until Delphine would be back home. Only seven more lonely nights until they would be together again. Cosima sighed, and adjusted her glasses. She would be happy to stare at Delphine all day, but she had stuff to do, and Delphine seriously needed to get some rest. “All right. I really do have to go.”

On Cosima’s screen, Delphine nodded sadly. “Have a nice day,” she said. “I’ll text you when I wake up.”

“Sweet dreams.”

“Bye,” Delphine said, chewing on her bottom lip. She adjusted her position on the bed, but did not disconnect the call.

“Seriously, okay. Sleep tight,” Cosima said, subtly and half-heartedly trying to convince Delphine to hang up. She hated to be the one to hang up, but she really was quite late already, she had to get up and get dressed.

Delphine grinned, and blew a kiss at her phone screen before finally disconnecting.

Staring at the suddenly empty screen in front of her, Cosima buried her face in her pillow for a few seconds. Only a few more days, she reminded herself, and then in a sudden fury she got out of bed and grabbed some clothes to get dressed. No matter how much she had wanted to keep Delphine awake all night long, she had places to go, people to meet.

\---

Cosima bumped into several people in her attempt to get to her appointment on time. Frustrated with the tourists strolling along the entire width of the sidewalk and stopping to admire every single feature of the City by the Bay, Cosima groaned as she passed another group, sheepishly following their guide around.

Two more blocks and she would only be ten minutes late. Not that it mattered, because Cosima was almost sure there would be nobody waiting for her. Some weirdo had been relentlessly trying to contact her the last couple of days, claiming they were a distant relative from Canada who was in town for just today and desperately wanted to meet Cosima. Even if there was actually somebody waiting for her, Cosima expected it to be a prank from her friends. Or, worst case, somebody was trying to scam or abduct the poor college student, the idea seemed silly to Cosima. Of course Cosima had checked with her parents, who claimed they knew nobody in Canada. Still, curiosity had gotten the upper hand, and Cosima had agreed to meet in a public place for a drink during daytime.

Finally, Cosima reached her destination: an outdoor café in one of the many parks of San Francisco. Here, she would be able to walk away in any direction from whatever weird prank her friends were pulling. Cocking her head, Cosima scanned the faces of the people occupying the many tables underneath the trees. Her mysterious relative, who by the way had never mentioned how they were related, had said Cosima would be able to recognize them. Frustrated, Cosima squinted against the late afternoon sun. She had no idea what to look for. 

“Hello, Cosima.”

Cosima turned around, searching for the owner of the voice, which had just greeted her. From her seat at a table, standing a bit further from the busier section, a woman had just stood up. “Wow,” was all Cosima could say to the polite greeting.

In front of her stood a woman, roughly the same age as Cosima, with exactly the same face. She had just taken her aviator sunglasses off, showing herself to Cosima. Her face was barely made-up compared to Cosima’s, but Cosima definitely recognized herself. Looking the stranger up and down, Cosima’s mind was trying hard to come up with an explanation. The woman was a little shorter than Cosima, but that might have been caused by the fact that Cosima was wearing very high heels today. While Cosima wore flowing and wildly patterned colourful clothes, this person was wearing tight clothes in various shades of blue and black. Her hair was straight, and she seemed stressed, but aside from those details, Cosima concluded that they looked exactly the same.

The stranger reached out for Cosima, taking a step closer. “Please don’t freak out. I can explain.”

“What the hell?” Cosima stumbled backwards. “You’ve got to be messing with me.”

“No, no, I’m really not,” said the stranger. She pulled her lip sideways, in what was likely supposed to be a persuasive smile, awkwardly trying to convince Cosima to stay.

“This is creepy,” Cosima concluded. She turned on her heels and started to walk away.

“Cosima, wait!” The stranger took firm hold of Cosima’s wrist, forcing her to stop. “Please give me five minutes to explain it. I’ll let you leave after, if you still want to,” she begged. 

“No way, this is far too mental.”

“I know, trust me, I’ve been there.” The stranger looked around. Some people were not so subtly staring at them, glancing back and forth. It was unlikely that they would have been able to follow the entire exchange. For some reason the stranger had talked in a hushed tone from the start, and Cosima had automatically adopted a matching whisper.

Shaking her head firmly, Cosima refused to sit down. “No way.”

“Please?” The other woman said. She motioned at the table with two vacant chairs. Her wineglass was still standing on top of one of those free maps of San Francisco distributed at the airport. Next to her chair stood a very official looking briefcase, and a jacket hung over the back of the chair. Something in her eyes, looking so desperately up at Cosima, not a single hint of bad intentions behind it, made Cosima finally give in.

Without saying a word, Cosima sat down. She crossed her legs and folded her arms simultaneously. Her own purse, she kept on her lap, ready to leave again. Warily, she watched the other woman sit back down in her chair.

Just as the stranger opened her mouth to start her explanation, a waiter interrupted them. “Can I get you gals anything? A drink perhaps? Something to eat?”

“Do you want a drink?” the stranger asked Cosima.

“Sure, might as well,” Cosima finally tore her gaze from her lookalike and faced the waiter. “A white wine, please. I don’t care which, as long as it’s cold. Thank you.”

The waiter nodded, and looked at the other woman.

“The same, please,” she said, with a polite smile.

“Anything else?”

Both women shook their heads, and the waiter left.

Cosima waited for the other person to start explaining herself. When she did not, Cosima’s patience bust. “So, care to explain this?” Cosima said, a bit more hostile than she usually was. She motioned between the two of them.

The stranger nodded. She hesitated for a moment, rubbing her neck. Then she leaned across the table. “We’re clones,” she whispered.

“Clones?” Cosima scoffed. Of all the things she had expected, this had not been it.

“Hush,” the woman said. She looked around, checking whether anybody had heard Cosima’s far too loud question. “Yes, clones. Genetic identicals.”

“Pfft,” Cosima shook her head at the non-sense this stranger with her face had told her. Not only was human cloning very much illegal, it was also quite impossible. And if anybody could know that, it was Cosima. Sure, theoretically it was potentially conceivable, but modern science was far from being at that point, and for adult clones to exist already was completely implausible. Besides, if Cosima was a clone, surely she would be aware of that, and her parents would too. “Bullshit,” she said.

“No, it’s not,” the stranger said. She opened her mouth to continue, but was interrupted again by the waiter. 

He set their glasses down on the table, asking them again if they needed anything else. When both women dismissed him crudely, he left. 

Once he was occupied with the next table, and out of earshot, she continued. “We really are.” 

Gauging the other woman’s eyes, Cosima suddenly realized that this person was not joking with her; she was very much convinced of her own correctitude. “Right, and I’m supposed to believe you, just because you seem to look a lot like me?” Cosima took a long drink from her wine, trying to figure out whether she should let somebody know a crazy woman was on the loose. “I don’t even know your name.”

“Elizabeth Childs,” the woman held out her hand across the table, nearly knocking her glass over. “Please, call me Beth.”

Slowly, Cosima took the hand. It was cool, and fitted perfectly in her own. They had exactly the same skin colour, their fingers wrapped around each other in a perfect mirror of each other. Her nails were slightly longer than Cosima’s, and she was not wearing any jewellery on her hands, but aside from that, they looked too much alike for it to be a coincidence. Suddenly frightened, Cosima let go.

She took another drink, wetting her dry lips. With a frown, she unabashedly stared at the stranger, at Beth. Despite her slight discomfort, Beth did not look away. She waited patiently for Cosima to examine her.

“Okay,” Cosima had decided. She was going humour this stranger for a little longer. “Let’s assume you’re right. Do you have any, like, proof that we’re...? That we’re clones?”

With a nod, Beth picked the briefcase up from the floor. She laid it down on the table between them, with the hinges towards Cosima. She looked around, and then opened it just a crack. She slipped her hand in, fishing a few papers out without allowing anybody a glance of the rest of the contents. “Here,” Beth said as she handed the papers to Cosima.

After setting her purse down on the floor, Cosima took the papers. On top of it were three birth certificates. One of them was Beth’s according to the name on it. The next one belonged to another Canadian named Alison Hendrix. Cosima immediately noticed that the three of them had been born less than a month apart. The last one was in German, the name said Katja Obinger, but next to the birthday somebody had scribbled another date less than a week ago.

Cosima looked up at Beth, holding up the paper. 

Before she could even ask whether that meant what she thought it meant, Beth said, “She passed away last week, before I could get in touch with her. I haven’t yet figured out why, but I will keep trying.”

With a nod, Cosima looked through the rest of the papers. There were a few sheets with information; rapidly skimming the text Cosima gathered that it was Beth’s research on the clones. At the bottom were a couple of photos. At first glance it was all the same person, but the details differed. One was a full body shot of probably Beth, wearing a police badge uniform. The next photo displayed somebody with much messier hair and a beanie on, taken in a shady bar. Another picture showed a perfectly posed photo of another person with the same face and bangs. The last photo was of Cosima herself, she had no idea how Beth had obtained her passport photo, but it was clearly Cosima with dreadlocks and glasses. “How do I not know this isn’t just you playing dress-up?”

“You saw the birth-certificates.”

Cosima handed Beth the information and photos back. “Come on, they could easily be faked.”

“True, and still, you haven’t walked away yet,” Beth said as she put the files back into the briefcase. She shut it and put it back on the floor. “You believe me, don’t you?”

“Shit,” Cosima tilted her head. “I do.” She was not sure why, but despite the far-fetched theory, something deep inside told Cosima that Beth was telling the truth, that they were much more closely related than any human being should be. “You came all the way to San Fran just to tell me this?”

Beth nodded. “I figured you wouldn’t believe me if I didn’t meet you in person.”

“Yeah, you’re right about that,” Cosima ran her hand through her hair, trying to wrap her mind around the entire concept. Not unsurprisingly, she still found the whole ordeal a bit hard to believe. She checked Beth out, from her neat shoes, along her pressed slacks, lingering on the pristine blouse, and finally her face, different and yet the same as Cosima’s. “Wow.”

“I know,” Beth said. “It is a lot to take in.” She downed the rest of her drink with a final big gulp.

“This is wild.”

Beth grinned. She appeared a bit more relaxed now that she seemed to have convinced Cosima that they were indeed clones. She looked over her shoulder a little less frequently, and she was not sitting as stiff and uptight anymore. Cosima was starting to believe she could actually see them be friends, or maybe sisters was a more accurate term.

Frowning, Cosima tried to comprehend what exactly their makers must have been thinking when they set their clones free into the wild world. It seemed logical to put them in different countries, reducing the chance of them meeting. “How many of us are there?”

“I have no idea,” Beth admitted. “It's surprisingly hard to figure out, especially considering the fact that we’re spread across different countries.”

Considering the vague answer, Cosima had to try again. “Hmm, what would be your estimate then?”

Beth shrugged. “A dozen, I guess,” she said, clearly hesitant to put an exact number to it. “Maybe a few more,” she quickly added. She shook her head again, indicating that she really was not sure about it.

“Okay.” Cosima decided that it did not matter right now, though it would be fun to get into touch with the rest of her sisters. Beth was already so very different from herself, and the two clones on the photos seemed to have interesting backstories as well, Cosima could not wait to figure out how deeply their different environments had influenced the genetic identicals. Watching Beth sitting rigidly in the chair across from her, Cosima found herself entranced, she wanted to study her clone for much longer. “You’re heading back to Canada tonight, right?”

“I am,” Beth nodded her agreement.

Cosima found it hard to hide her disappointment; she had hoped that the whole dramatic relative just in town for a day had been an excuse to make sure they could meet. “But you only arrived this morning?”

“I don't want anybody to know I was gone,” Beth explained. She toyed with the edge of the map, which was still lying on the table. “My boyfriend is a nice guy, but he worries about me sometimes.”

“He doesn’t know?” Cosima was amazed; she was planning to call Delphine as soon as Beth left. Or maybe tell her when she got back home from France; right now Delphine had other things on her mind. Besides, Cosima had to find a way to tell her girlfriend without sounding insane.

Beth dropped the piece of paper. “Of course not, he’d think I’m crazy,” she said. Looking up at Cosima, she mumbled. “Hell, I think I’m crazy sometimes.”

“I feel ya,” Cosima answered. How was she supposed to explain to anybody that she felt that this woman spoke the truth? How was she going to convince anybody that she felt a connection, and that they were not long lost twins? Nobody would believe her, not even Delphine. They would have her institutionalized, or at least see a therapist. 

For a moment, Cosima tried to figure out what to do with all this information if she could not share it. She wanted to know more, but Beth seemed almost as uninformed as Cosima was. Yet, Cosima could not shake the feeling that giving Cosima an identity crisis was not the only reason for this meeting. “Okay, then what is the point of this visit? Surely you didn’t fly all the way to the States just to talk to me.” 

Brightening a little, Beth straightened her back. “No, of course. There is more.” She picked the briefcase back up, handing it over to Cosima. “I have some biological samples from a few of our sisters. Blood, hair, such things. Take a sample of yourself and I’m sure you could use it to prove that we’re really identical. Unless of course you think that somebody sneaked into your bedroom and took all these samples from you.”

Cosima raised her eyebrows. She pushed her glasses back up her nose and opened the suitcase. In it she indeed found a pile of papers, on top were the photos and birth certificates Beth had shown her earlier. Skipping the papers for later, Cosima looked under them. Stuffed in plenty of memory foam were three phials with what looked like blood, and several tiny zip lock bags with hair locks, all the same dark brown colour. Everything was neatly labeled, though clearly by an amateur.

“We’re hoping you could analyze them,” Beth explained. “Tell us a bit more about who we are.”

“Me?” Cosima looked up from the briefcase, closing it before any of the papers could be swept away by the wind.

“Well, you’re a biologist, right? Evolutionary development, with a specialization on epogenetic clone cells?” Beth said, leaning forward a little.

“Epigenetic influences on clone cells, yeah,” Cosima answered, emphasising the correct pronouncement. She tilted her head, contemplating her “How do you know that? Did you research me?”

“I did. It is my job after all.”

“’Cause you’re a cop,” Cosima concluded. Though she still was not entirely sure how Beth had found her all the way from Canada, she assumed that as a detective, Beth would have used some facial recognition technique.

“I am. And I’m looking into the legal side of things, trying to figure out who actually made us,” Beth said. Again, she was toying with the now half torn map. “And I’m trying to find more of us.”

Cosima nodded, that seemed like a good plan. “Do you have any idea who made us?”

“No, not at all,” Beth answered. “But we’ll figure it out. Could you help us with our biology?”

“Yeah, sure.” Cosima tapped on the suitcase with her fingers. “This is fascinating stuff,” she said with a grin at her clone across the table.

“It is, but it is also very dangerous,” Beth said, with not even a hint of the enthusiasm Cosima possessed. “Cosima, please don’t tell anybody.”

With a shrug, Cosima nodded.

“I mean it. Promise me. Promise me you won’t tell anybody, not your parents, not your girlfriend, nobody.”

“Okay, chill. I won’t tell them.” This detective did some thorough research if she knew about Delphine, Cosima realised. For now, she’d keep quiet about it.

Smiling, Beth started to get up. “I have a plane to catch,” she explained.

“Already?”

“Yes, sorry. I get that you have plenty more questions. You have my email address, and there is a phone in there which is safe to use.” Beth pointed at the briefcase on Cosima’s lap.

“Okay, cool. Thanks,” Cosima got up with Beth. She gave her sister a brief hug, before watching her walk to the nearest street and stop a taxi. Only then she sat back down, putting the briefcase on the floor between her feet. Still trying to wrap her brain around the extraordinary information she had just received, Cosima gestured at the waiter for another drink.


	12. Delphine +17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My sincerest apologies for not uploading last week, some personal issues piled up and writing something passable was simply too much too handle on top of everything else. I’m truly sorry, and I’ll try my best not to let it happen again.  
> On a different note, thank you to [Neotopian](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Neotopian) for helping out with this chapter as well as being a great buddy. And, of course, [suyurisan](http://archiveofourown.org/users/suyurisan), who I can’t thank enough for pointing out my horrible grammar and being so very kind.

“Do you girls want an apple?” Delphine asked. She kneeled on the floor next to the two girls lying on the floor with paper and crayons, drawing fanatically.

The smallest one looked up, her curls hanging in front of her face. “Yes please,” Kira said, enthusiastically, yet polite. She pushed some of the curls behind her ears, wiping a streak of red waxy crayon across her cheek.

“Yes please,” Cosima mimicking her niece’s tone. She grinned at Delphine, taking one of the offered apples. “Thank you,” she said and bit into the apple. Cosima shoved her crayons aside, making a bit of space for her sit up. She folded her legs underneath her and straightened her back.

Delphine held the second apple out for Kira to take, leaning across Cosima to reach her. They were fresh, like the rest of the fruits and vegetables Sarah had brought with her. Delphine had missed fresh produce, and was very grateful to Sarah for thinking of bringing them some. The safe house had been stocked quite well when they arrived, but most of the food had been dried or canned. And, after having lived there for two weeks, they were starting to run out of things.

Kira did not take the offered apple from Delphine’s, causing Delphine to look away from Cosima and at her outstretched hand.

“Could you peel it for me?” Kira asked. She smiled innocently, and returned to drawing.

Delphine stared at the little girl, she was unsure of what to do with the question. She had washed the apple; she did not see any reason to peel it. Confused, Delphine tried to convince Kira to just eat the entire apple. “Most of the vitamins are in the skin, sweetie. You really should eat it like this.”

“Mrs S always slices my apples.” Kira did not look up at Delphine. She was digging through the different colours, finally selecting a bright shade of yellow to colour the hair of the person she was drawing.

“I…” Delphine tried to think of what to say. When they had agreed to take care of the seven year old for a day, she had not expected to have to argue with the child. Delphine realized that she had absolutely no idea how to handle a child. Looking at Cosima, chewing happily on her own apple and watching the scene in front of her, Delphine wished she would get some help from the clone. “I think you’re big enough to eat your apple like that,” Delphine said to Kira, hoping that the child would take at least one bite out of the apple.

Kira finally looked up. She had not been expecting a refusal. Not out of arrogance or having been spoiled, she simply was used to getting sliced apples. Perhaps that was normal for a seven year old, Delphine was not entirely sure how old children were when they no longer needed all their food to be cut into bite size pieces.

Cosima tilted her head, clearly not understanding why Delphine was pushing the young child so much. “Aw, come here. I’ll slice it for you,” she said. She took the apple from Delphine and got up to get a knife from the other room.

For a few minutes, Delphine was left alone with Kira. She looked around the room, glancing at the many books on the shelves and floor. After having been dropped off by her mother, Kira had looked at all the stories and immediately asked Cosima if she wanted to read to her. With a grin, Cosima had told her enthusiastically that they would read all of the books. That had been early in the morning, and by now it was long past noon.

Kira had returned to her drawing, which as Delphine noticed showed Cosima and herself. The child had drawn simplified versions of them, both wearing lab coats, surrounded by colourful vials, Erlenmeyer flasks, and beakers. For a moment Delphine was confused by their strange pose, until she realized that Kira had drawn Delphine holding, what had to be a stethoscope, against Cosima’s chest. With a smile, she recalled how this morning, after a particular rough coughing fit, Cosima had explained that she was a little bit sick, but Delphine was a doctor and she was taking care of Cosima. And then, when Kira had still looked a bit worried after that child-friendly explanation, Cosima had told her they were both scientists and they would make a cure for her. Now, the child was drawing the doctor and patient.

Delphine took a deep breath. She tried to think of something to say, to soothe the child who had not had an easy time lately, and was now hiding with two strangers in a safe house while her mother was away doing what had to be very dangerous things. Before Delphine could figure out what to say, Cosima returned.

“There you go,” Cosima said as she handed Kira a bowl with the sliced and peeled apple.

“Thank you.” Kira smiled brightly at Cosima. She set the bowl next to her drawing, and grabbed the first slice. With the piece of apple in her left hand, and a crayon in her right, she continued drawing. Busy with colouring, she stuck the slice of apple in her mouth, chewing carefully to avoid the side with the loose tooth.

Hiding her disappointment, Delphine smiled at Cosima who was once again sitting next to her. She ran her hand down Cosima’s arm, taking her hand and squeezing softly. Despite the strange circumstances, Delphine found herself relax now that Cosima was back in the room. Hiding from international corporations and trying to find a solution for the clone disease without any resources had helped them rekindle their relationship much faster than any other hardship ever could.

Cosima leaned into Delphine. Together they watched the child add another bright yellow test-tube to her drawing. Delphine sat back against the bookshelves; she casually draped her arm around Cosima’s shoulder. Toying with the clone’s dreadlocks, she wondered how much Kira knew about her many aunts. Even for Delphine, an overqualified medical scientist, the entire clone experiment had been difficult to comprehend. Kira seemed very willing to accept the many sisters her mother had, and had been incredibly cosy with Cosima from the moment they had met.

Sarah had woken Cosima and Delphine up this morning, though it had been so very early that the label morning was perhaps not applicable yet, to ask Cosima if she minded looking after her daughter for a day or so. Even though she had been slightly confused by Sarah’s inadequate explanation of having other things to do, her sister had claimed she was unable to find anybody else she trusted with her child for a day, so Cosima had agreed. Less than an hour later, Sarah had dropped Kira off. After a hug and a hushed conversation with Cosima, she had left the two women to entertain the seven year old for the day.

Cosima tilted her head towards Delphine, opening her mouth to say something. Before she could, her phone started to ring. “Huh,” Cosima said, neither of them had expected a call so early; Sarah would not be back for a couple more hours at least. Cosima handed Delphine her almost finished apple, and fished her phone out of her pocket. “Yo,” she said when she picked it up.

“Is that my mom?” Kira asked.

Cosima nodded at Kira, and got up from the floor with a groan. She listened to Sarah on the other end of the line with a deep frown.

“Is mommy okay?” Kira asked. “When is she coming back?”

Gently, Delphine hushed her. Cosima looked focused, but not worried. “She’ll be back in a little while, honey.” Delphine motioned for Kira to come closer, patting beside her on the blanket where Cosima had been seated. “Would you like me to read you another story?”

“Yes please,” Kira eagerly agreed. She crawled over and installed herself on Delphine’s right side.

With a glance at Cosima, who was still listening silently to what Sarah was telling her, Delphine took the books she had found a few days ago from the shelf behind her. “This used to be one of my favourite books when I was about your age,” she told Kira, showing her the front cover.

“Really?”

“Hmm,” Delphine nodded. “Yes.”

Leaning against the doorframe, Cosima was looking at Kira and Delphine on the floor. She was undoubtedly listening to Sarah, with an expression of endearment with the interaction between Delphine and her niece.

Delphine opened the book and wrapped her arm around Kira to pull her a little closer so she could see the drawings. “In the great forest, a little elephant is born,” Delphine read the first sentence. She looked at Kira, who had forgotten about her mother on the phone, and was looking intently at the pictures on the page. “His name is Babar.”

“What kind of experiments?” Cosima whispered. She walked back from the door, picking up a blank sheet of paper and the first crayon she could find from the pile on the floor where Kira had left them. “Really? On kids?” With a glance at Delphine and Kira, she nodded along to what Sarah said. Cosima murmured something. She clamped the phone between her shoulder and ear once she reached the counter and sat down on the chair. Rapidly, she started taking notes with the pink crayon. “Wow, and this was during the twenties? I had no idea it went that far back,” she mumbled. With a deep frown, Cosima looked up from her notes just as Delphine had a quick glance at her. Winking over the rim of her glasses, Cosima smiled at her, before turning away and concentrating on her phone call.

Looking back down at the book, Delphine continued the story. “The monkey hides, the birds cry…”

“You know, good intentions, bad science,” Cosima said in the background. “Sound familiar?”

Kira shivered and snuggled closer to Delphine. She had only eyes for the book, listening intently to Delphine reading her the story.

Delphine, on the other hand, was only half seeing the words on the page. As she read, Cosima’s side of the phone call distracted her. It was not as if she was eavesdropping; if the conversation with Sarah had been private, Cosima would have left the room. Sarah seemed to have found some new information, and Delphine was curious. It seemed like they had been stuck for weeks now, with no information and no way forward. Rubbing the cold child’s arm, Delphine turned the page. Reading the lines on the pages, Delphine tried to focus on the English text, turning her voice as she entertained the child.

“Yeah. Project Leda. I mean, Cold River is, like, the perfect ideological breeding ground for a nature-nurture cloning fiasco,” Cosima said. She sounded enthusiastic about the information Sarah had given her. Swirling in her chair, she said, “Well, science is what scientists do, Sarah. You know, nobody’s got any idea. We’re just poking at things with sticks.” She rolled her eyes at Delphine, while simultaneously pushing her glasses back up her nose.

“…And then he takes his bath.” 

Kira giggled at the image of the elephant in the tub.

With a grin, Delphine continued with the story.

Cosima sighed deeply after having listened a while. “Yeah, of course,” she said. She scratched her dreads, and stared ahead. “Honestly.”

Delphine became lost in the story she was reading. Kira’s enthusiasm was addicting, and she forgot all about the conversation Cosima was having with her sister. For several pages, she lost track of what Cosima was saying, until she heard her name. 

“Delphine is reading to her.”

Stopping mid-sentence, Delphine looked up when Cosima said her name. Once she registered what Cosima had said, she smiled and tried to return to the story.

“Yeah. We’re having fun, aren’t we monkey?” Cosima said to Sarah on the phone, looking at Kira.

Kira nodded, tugging on Delphine’s sleeve to continue with the reading.

Happily, Delphine obliged.

“Yeah, she’s totally fine.” Cosima was toying with her crayon, as she convinced Sarah again that they were taking good care of Kira. “Okay,” she smiled. For several more minutes, Cosima was nodding along to what Sarah said, agreeing with her and asking for more information on some peculiarities Delphine could not understand from the one-sided conversation. By the time Cosima hung up the phone, Delphine and Kira were done with their story.

Kira was wrapped in Delphine’s arms, starting to doze off. She must have gotten up early this morning, and was starting to get tired after a long day. Delphine stroked the child’s hair, twirling the natural curls. 

Kira yawned. She looked at Cosima. “When is mommy coming?”

Cosima sighed. She slid from the chair and joined Kira and Delphine on the floor. “Your mom is still busy with, like, really important stuff,” Cosima explained, she glanced at Delphine and added with a frown. “Uncle Felix is on his way to pick you up instead.’

“Now?” Kira asked.

With an enthusiastic nod, Cosima said, “Yeah, he’ll be here in a bit.”

“But I don’t wanna go yet,” Kira said. She tensed against Delphine, who immediately gave her some space to sit up and leave if she wanted. Instead Kira turned around and looked up at Delphine behind her. “I want to stay with you guys, we haven’t read all of the books yet.”

“How about you come back another time, then we’ll finish the rest of the books,” Delphine suggested.

“I’d like that,” Kira said. She laid her head back down against Delphine’s chest. Within a minute, the child was comfortably asleep, warm in Delphine’s arms.

“I thought Felix was busy?” Delphine whispered at Cosima, who was sitting across from her, only a small pile of books and the seven year old between them.

Cosima looked up from her phone. “Yeah, well, Sarah said that he’s available now.” She shrugged.

Delphine’s hands continued to toy with Kira’s hair. “Available?” she asked. Sarah had not mentioned why she would rather want her child to spend the day with two fugitives underground, than with her foster mother or her brother. She had mumbled something about this being the safest place for her child, and had run off to Helena who had apparently been waiting in the car.

“Hmm, I don’t know,” Cosima dropped her phone in her lap and coughed. The sound was loud in the otherwise silent book shop. To Delphine’s relief, it did not last long. After taking a deep breath, and wiping the stains from her hand onto one of the tissues she now always carried, she said, “He was not safe, that’s what she said earlier.”

Chewing on her bottom lip, Delphine kept from asking Cosima whether she was feeling all right. “How was Sarah doing with her investigation?”

Again, Cosima cleared her throat. “She found some interesting stuff. Some data from the scientists who, like, started project Leda.” Looking pointedly at Kira in Delphine’s lap, she said, “I’ll explain in a bit; it’s not something she should overhear.”

Slowly, Delphine nodded. She was quite sure Kira was sound asleep, but if Cosima preferred to wait, Delphine would be patient. For a while, she watched Cosima study the pictures on her phone.

The clone was frowning deeply, and occasionally made a note with her crayon on her second sheet of paper. She was tapping with her feet impatiently, as if she had some place to be. After a while, she went to retrieve her laptop. Lying on the floor in front of Delphine and Kira, Cosima was typing and reading furiously.

All Delphine did was wait. She watched Cosima work and Kira sleep. For a while, Delphine tried to read a book, but was quickly bored with it. Staring ahead, Delphine waited for what seemed like hours, occasionally talking to Cosima in a hushed tone. Kira slept, and just when Delphine felt she could no longer sit against the hard shelves in her back, there was a loud knock on the door in the back.

“That must be him,” Cosima said. She closed her laptop and stood up.

Watching Cosima leave to open the door, Delphine stretched her legs and gently shook Kira’s shoulder. “Time to wake up, Kira.”

Kira whined her protest against waking up.

“Your uncle is here, honey,” Delphine said as she helped the child sit up. She tucked Kira’s hair behind her ears and out of her face. “Let’s go say hello to Felix.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The book mentioned is _L'Histoire de Babar_ by Jean de Brunhoff, a children’s book originally published in 1931 in France.


	13. Cosima +18

As soon as she opened the door, Cosima was wrapped into a big hug. Felix held her tight for a moment. “How are you holding up, Cos?”

“Meh, we’re fine, I guess,” Cosima said as soon as he let her go. “Please, come inside. Let’s not leave the door open for too long.”

Felix did as he was told, allowing Cosima to close the door behind him.

“Uncle Felix!” Kira came running into the back room.

With open arms, Felix bent over so the child could reach him. “Hey, Monkey.” He lifted Kira into the air in a big hug. After giving her a sloppy kiss on her cheek, he set her back down on the floor. “Hello,” he said, greeting Delphine a lot less enthusiastic than he had greeted Kira, or even Cosima.

Delphine walked over to Cosima, and stood next to her. “Hello Felix,” she said. 

For a moment, the four of them stood in uncomfortable silence. With a cough, Cosima broke the silence. “Do you have your jacket, Kira?” She asked the child. Baby-sitting her niece had been a fun break in their boring every-day rhythm of sleeping, eating, researching the DYAD institute, and attempting and failing to come up with a cure for the clone disease. Cosima was glad that of all people, she ended up with Delphine hiding in the safe house, but stuck inside they were both bored and frustrated with the lack of progress. At least, with what Sarah had just told her over the phone, Delphine and Cosima would be able to search for answers in a new direction, once Kira had left of course. 

Kira shook her head, looking around the room for her coat. “I don’t know where my coat is.”

Cosima nodded. Kira had taken her coat off in the store room; it must still be lying on one of the shelves with her scarf and hat. “I’ll go grab it.” Cosima started making her way towards the door.

“And my drawing, please” Kira said to Cosima. “I want to show my drawing to Mrs S.”

Cosima nodded, but before she reached the door, Felix stopped her.

Felix kneeled on the ground in front of Kira. He took her hand, and with his most sincere expression he said, “I’m so sorry Monkey, but you need to stay a little longer.” He looked up at Cosima and continued. “I came to get aunty Cosima, there’s something we need to do.” Looking back at Kira, he said. “But I promise I’ll come back and get you in a little bit, okay.”

“Okay,” Kira pouted. “Promise you’ll be back?”

“Of course, I want to see that drawing of yours,” Felix said. He squeezed Kira’s hand, and smiled at her. “Do you mind looking after her a little longer?” Felix asked Delphine.

“I,” Delphine stammered, surprized by the sudden change of plan. “No, of course not. Why? Where are you going?” She asked Cosima, immediately assuming that Sarah had told Cosima about this on the phone.

Cosima shrugged, she had no idea. If Felix was willing to leave Kira alone with Delphine, it must be important. “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see when we get there,” was all Felix said to explain where they were going.

Cosima raised her eyebrows. “Okay,” she said. Cosima tilted her head, watching Felix intently. She trusted him, and she did not doubt that he cared for his niece; he would not leave Kira with Delphine if he were not planning to return to her. And in order to get her back, he would certainly need to bring Cosima back to Delphine. Assuming that it was safe enough to leave Delphine alone with Kira for a short while as she went with Felix, Cosima added, “If Delphine really doesn’t mind watching Kira.”

“I don’t mind.”

“Awesome,” Cosima said. “Let me grab my own coat then.” She left the room to retrieve her own red coat. Quickly, she pulled it on and returned to the room buttoning her coat. “All right, I’m ready.”

Kira was still standing next to Felix. “Bye Felix. Bye Cosima,” she said, looking up at both adults.

Felix told her goodbye quickly, ruffling her hair and already leaving towards the door.

Cosima took a bit more time, bending over to give Kira a hug. “Bye Monkey.” She then took a few steps closer to Delphine. “Are you sure you’ll be okay?” she whispered, tilting her head, trying to gauge what Delphine thought of the situation. Cosima would have liked a moment alone with Delphine before she left, but Felix did not seem to have time for that. 

Delphine smiled at Cosima. “Yes, don’t worry about us,” she answered. Her hand softly squeezed Cosima’s. Judging by Delphine’s wide set eyes, she was concerned about something. A glance from Delphine in Felix’s direction told Cosima Delphine did not like the idea of Cosima leaving.

Cosima had wanted nothing more than to get out of this place for days now, and Delphine’s unfounded worries were not going to stop her. Quickly, Cosima pressed a kiss to the corner of Delphine’s mouth.

“Oh bloody hell,” Felix said. “Let’s go.” As soon as Cosima took a step back, he took her elbow and firmly tugged her towards the door.

With a last wave at Delphine and Kira, Cosima followed Felix outside. It was already dark, and in the cold air Cosima shivered. Quickly, she followed Felix, and sat down in the still warm car.

Felix did not waste a moment. He started the car, and within minutes, they were on one of the major roads of Toronto heading west. During the ride, Felix did not talk much; he seemed in deep thought about something.

There were plenty of cars on the road. Cosima watched the people passing by. She started to wonder whether she would ever see the Canadian city by daylight. Toronto was supposed to be a nice town, but all Cosima had seen of it up to now were hurried glimpses in the night as she was brought from one hideout to the next. Cosima cleared her throat, and glanced at Felix. “Hey, where are we going?”

“S’ place. There’s somebody you’ve got to meet,” Felix answered.

Cosima raised an eyebrow. “Who?”

“No idea. She was all cryptic about it,” Felix said. He looked at Cosima, and shrugged. “We’ll see when we get there, I guess.” He left the main road, and turned into a long street lined with residential houses.

In most of the houses the lights were on, and as they drove by Cosima could see domestic scenes in the windows. She saw people enjoying a late dinner, watching TV, talking, kids playing games, and occasionally she see could see nobody at all inside one of the houses.

Felix stopped in front of one of the houses. It did not look particularly different from the rest, aside from the fact that there were no lights on anywhere in the house. When Felix got out of the car, Cosima followed suit. She looked around, and when she saw nobody on the street Cosima crossed the sidewalk and entered the front yard through the small gate after Felix.

“Here we are,” Felix mumbled. He retrieved a bunch of keys from his pocket, and unlocked the door. “After you,” he said, gesturing for Cosima to go inside.

Cosima did as she was told. She found herself in a dark hallway, a set of stairs leading to the second floor, and a small corridor next to it to the back of the house. Aside from the coat hooks next to the door, with some adult and children’s jackets and hats on them, she could vaguely make out a living room to her left side.

“I guess they’re not back yet,” Felix said. He had closed the door and now turned the light on. “S said for us to wait here.” He took his coat off and threw it over the coat rack. Felix left Cosima alone, and disappeared into the corridor.

Cosima wandered into the home. She turned a light on in the living room, and had a look around. The house looked well used; its furniture was mismatching and there were children’s drawings and books littered on most surfaces. The colourful pillows on the couch, the strange art on the wall, and the LPs stacked in neat piles on the shelves were much more domestic than Cosima had expected the home of the tough Irish woman she had met only two weeks ago to be. Cosima peeked at the music, she found herself unable to recognize any of the hard punk album and lost interest quickly. In the distance, she heard Felix moving around. With a peek around the corner Cosima could see Felix in the kitchen. 

“I’m putting the kettle on,” Felix yelled at her just as she peeked into the kitchen. “I’m sure they’ll be here any moment now.”

Cosima nodded. She slowly wandered into the kitchen, stopping to inspect the photographs displayed on the wall. She saw that the shiny new photos mostly focussed on Kira. There were a couple of older pictures with people Cosima did not know, but a certain person on some of the older photos looked a lot like Cosima’s childhood pictures. “Is this where you grew up?”

“Yeah,” Felix said. He was leaning against the kitchen counter, watching Cosima.

“With Sarah?”

“Yup, S took us in a long time ago,” Felix reminisced with a smile on his face. “We moved to Canada pretty much right after that, and we lived here since then. Now S lives here with Kira.”

“Hmm, I see,” Cosima mumbled. She could not help but wonder what it would have been like if she had had a childhood like Sarah’s. The scientist in her said she would have turned out exactly the same as Sarah, if the circumstances had pushed her in that direction, and yet, Cosima could not imagine it.

Felix poured the boiling water in the teapot. He collected six cups and a jug of milk. Right when he covered the teapot with a multi-coloured tea cosy, the front door opened and several people entered.

“Come in, close that door,” Mrs S spoke loudly from the front of the house. Some more mumbled conversation reached Cosima and Felix in the kitchen. When she recognized Sarah’s voice, Cosima left the kitchen to greet her sister.

“Hey,” Cosima leaned around the corner, waving to the small group of people who had just walked in to the living room.

Instead of Sarah, it was Siobhan who greeted her first. “Hello Chicken,” she said, with the usual genuine kindness, she came over and wrapped Cosima in a comforting hug. “You’re a sight for sore eyes.”

“Mrs S.” Cosima closed her eyes and leaned into the older woman’s hug. “Good evening,” she said, when they both pulled back.

“You look tired, Cosima.”

“Yeah,” Cosima mumbled. She shrugged. Cosima was well aware of how sick and tired she looked. The disease eating her body away, in combination with the stress, and the lack of sunlight was making her look more morbid every day, and she did not like being reminded of it.

Felix walked up beside Cosima. “What about me?” He asked his mother with a pout.

“Come here you,” S said.

Felix did not need to be told twice. He handed Cosima the tray with tea and went to receive his own hug.

Cosima decided to give them a moment alone, and moved over to set the heavy tray down on the table next to the couch. She gave the two men standing next to the entrance a polite nod, and sank down on the couch next to Sarah. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Sarah answered. She looked tired, as if she had not slept in days. Her hair was a mess and her pants were muddy. With a sluggish smile at her sister, Sarah kicked her boots off and propped her feet up on the table.

Sensing that Sarah needed a moment of rest, Cosima glanced at Felix who was having a hushed conversation with his mother in the kitchen. Ignoring them, Cosima had a better look at the two men. One of them she recognized as the guy who had driven them from Felix’s loft to the safe house, the other guy she did not know. He was a bit older, and looked shabby. He was wearing dirty clothes, his hair was unkempt, and he had a shadow on his cheeks that was far beyond five ‘o clock.

“Thank you, Felix. I could use a cup after tonight,” S suddenly said a bit louder, and followed by Felix, she joined the others in the living room. “Benjamin, do you want a cup before you leave?” S started to fill the mugs with tea, handing them out to each of her guests. “Please, professor, sit down,” she told the older man.

He awkwardly sat down in the chair across the two clones. Staring intently at them, he put the tin box he had been clutching tightly on his lap, never completely letting go of it. “Do you perhaps have some lemon, Mrs Sadler?”

“Sarah, get your bloody feet off the table and do something useful,” S gave Sarah the clone a stern look, pointing at the kitchen.

With a groan, Sarah complied.

Cosima watched the scene with amazement. She leaned against the back of the couch, slumped back into the comfy pillows. It was so different from the household she had grown up in, and despite the fact that surely the circumstances were not ordinary for these people, they seemed completely comfortable with each other in this home.

“Oh, Cosima, I completely forgot,” S suddenly said, jolting Cosima out of her thoughts. “This is professor Duncan, I believe Sarah told you who he is.”

Cosima sat up. How she had not connected the information before was beyond her; of course this was the infamous professor Duncan. Sarah had told her over the phone earlier today that she had found proof that he was still alive, and that she was going to find him. The guy clutching his red box in the chair across from Cosima had the perfect age. “My Maker,” Cosima said with wonder, unable to say anything more eloquent. “Hi.”

“Oh, please, don’t call me that,” he said, waving the title away with a shaky hand. “It’s Ethan.”

Just as Sarah returned to the couch, dropping a bowl of uneven lemon wedges in front of professor Duncan, Cosima got up to properly greet the man who had made her. “It’s not every day you get to meet your, uhm, Ethan,” Cosima joked. It was not just the fact that this person had made her; plenty of people made new people every day, it was the absolute brilliance this man must possess in order to have been able to toy with very nature and overcome the biological difficulties of human cloning decades ago. “I’m Cosima. Uhm, Cosima Niehaus.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” he said. He did not react to Cosima’s outstretched hand; instead he took a sip from his tea, now spiked with lemon. His hand shook, and the cup clattered against his teeth.

Unsure of what to do next, Cosima looked around. The rest of the people in the room were watching the exchange, not offering any hints for Cosima on how to interact with the eccentric scientist. Feeling tired and slightly overwhelmed, Cosima needed to sit back down. Felix had taken her spot next to Sarah on the couch, so instead Cosima sat down on one of the large pillows on the floor. She took the last cup of tea from the tray, and clutched the hot cup in her cold hands. 

In the silent room, Cosima chewed on her bottom lip. She wondered what Delphine was doing right now. She had seemed a bit uncomfortable with the idea of being left alone with a seven year old child, or perhaps, it was the thought of being so far from Cosima that had made Delphine nervous. Either way, Cosima was tired and anxious to get back to the safe house, to Delphine. “This is nice and all, and it’s an honour to meet you, but, like, what is the point?”

“Right, Duncan here has your cure,” S said, handing out biscuits.

“What?” Cosima sat up, of all reasons she could have been taken out of that safe house, this was not what she had dared hope for. “For real?”

“No,” Duncan said. He shook his head forcefully, spilling some of his tea on his lap. He did not notice. “I have the key to a cure. I’ve been told you’re a biologist yourself, is that correct?”

Cosima nodded.

“Well then, as I’m sure you know, your defect was caused when Susan and I started tinkering with your DNA in order to make you viable. This synthetic sequence had some unforeseen side effects, which is the reason you’re so sick,” professor Duncan babbled. He pronounced every word clearly, but did not seem to be able to speak as fast as his own mind was going. He looked around the room, and noted that he had the undivided attention of everybody in it. “Within the synthetic sequence lies not only the cause, but also the solution,” he concluded dramatically.

“Right, but that sequence was lost in that fire,” Sarah said.

“I have an encrypted copy.” Duncan tapped on the box in his lap. It started to dawn on Cosima why he was guarding it so tightly. “And the translation key is in here,” he said, and tapped his temple. Now Cosima realized why the professor was guarded so tightly. “But I do have some demands,” Duncan added slowly.

Cosima’s mind spun, a possible cure was beyond what she had hoped for when she had left the safe house with Felix. If anybody was capable of curing the clones, it must be the person who had made the clones in the first place. Cosima breathed deep and slow, trying to steady her heartbeat. She had to say something; she had to convince her Maker to help her create that cure, if not for herself then for her sisters. He still seemed hesitant, and Cosima was panicking over it already. She coughed loudly.

“Anything,” Sarah said to Duncan, but she was looking at Cosima. “We’ll do anything.”

Duncan smiled nervously at Cosima. “I want to see my daughter. I want to see Rachel,” he told her.

Cosima’s mouth dropped. Sarah had mentioned that he and is wife originally fostered Rachel, and raised her self-aware. But after having faked his death, abandoning his wife, daughter, and years of research in a burning building, Cosima had assumed he no longer cared for them. And having met Rachel herself, she did not understand why he would want to meet her.

Sarah was the first to voice Cosima’s thoughts. “Bloody Rachel is lost. She’s a cold, calculated, corporate cu…”

“Sarah!” Siobhan interrupted her.

“What?”

“Insulting the man’s child isn’t going to help us,” the Irish woman told Sarah.

Sarah scoffed, clearly not intimidated by her mother. “But it’s true,” she said, popping her feet back on the table.

Siobhan shook her head, nudging Sarah’s feet back to the floor. With a polite smile, she turned back to Duncan. “Would you be willing help us if we arrange for you to meet with Rachel?”

“Yes,” Professor Duncan said. With a trembling hand he lifted his teacup back to his lips, and finished his drink. “Yes I would.”

“You’d give us the synthetic sequence?” Cosima asked. She was only starting to comprehend what this meant. Even with Delphine’s help, actually realizing a cure would be tricky. And she did not even want to think of the technicalities of actually making a cure, details like an equipped laboratory and such. “Will you help us develop a cure for the clone disease?”

Duncan nodded. “Of course, I don’t want my girls to be sick.”

“Thank you,” Cosima felt her bottom lip tremble. She hated looking so weak, and coughed into her elbow. Rubbing underneath her glasses, she stretched her legs from underneath her.

“But first I want to see my Rachel.”

Siobhan refilled her teacup. “Can you actually cure Cosima?” she asked, emphasising every syllable of the question.

“Yes,” Duncan said. He toyed with the lid of the box, never actually lifting it from the tin. “Though it’s immodest to boast.”

“In that case I’ll see what I can do to arrange a meeting, though I can’t speak for Rachel.” Sarah leaned forward on her elbows. She had taken her phone out of her pocket, searching for something.

Duncan nodded. He sat back with his hands folded on top of the box. He was clearly finished with the conversation.

Siobhan was drinking her tea; she seemed satisfied with the conversation. Felix was reading the back of one of the LP covers lying on the table, as if he had not been listening to the conversation at all. Benjamin had not yet said a word, and Cosima was starting to wonder if he ever spoke at all. Sarah was still on her phone, hopefully arranging that meeting with Rachel.

Frustrated, Cosima shifted on the floor. The agreement seemed vague; diplomacy was not Cosima’s forte. The others in the room, the people who were much better in negotiating, appeared to be satisfied with the outcome of this conversation and they were done with it. Cosima yawned, she had had a long day, and she longed to tell Delphine all about what she had learned. “Can you take me back, please?” she asked Felix.

“I’ll do that, it’s long past Kira’s bedtime anyway,” Sarah said. She put the phone back in her pocket and started pulling her boots on. “I can’t believe you left Kira with that woman, Felix.”

“Hey, I thought that Kira would be safer there than with this guy and everybody hunting for him,” Felix protested.

“Safe alone with the watcher?” Sarah scoffed. She rolled her eyes at her brother’s stupidity. “Don’t be silly.” She got up from her seat.

Cosima followed her example, getting up from the floor. “Please don’t say that, Delphine’s on our side, I trust her,” she told Sarah. She pushed her glasses back up her nose. “And besides, she would never hurt a child.”

“Hmm,” Sarah mumbled. She pulled her leather jacket on, and arranged her hair on top of it. “We’ll see about that. Let’s go.”


	14. Delphine +21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are you ready to find out what happened before the first chapter?

Delphine was at her wits end. Cosima was coughing her lungs out in the other room, and every time Delphine tried to help her, the clone retreated further into herself. The agonizingly loud coughs tore through the empty store, tearing holes into Delphine’s healthy chest. Pacing between the shelves, Delphine rubbed her temples, covering her ears briefly. It did not help. She needed to shut out the sound; she needed a moment to think clearly. 

There had to be something she could do to ease Cosima’s suffering, if only she could focus long enough to actually come up with it. Straightening a couple of books Cosima had knocked off the shelf in her fury earlier, Delphine counted all the possible ways they had come up with to cure Cosima. They had zero. Null. _Rien_.

“ _Merde,_ ” Delphine swore. She had dropped a book on her toe. Frustrated, she kicked it to the other side of the room, where it came to a full stop against the wall. Now both her feet hurt. 

Delphine leaned against the counter, burying her hands in her hair. It had grown silent again; Cosima had regained control over her breathing, for however long it might last this time. 

The clone’s phone was still lying on the counter where she had left it after that call this morning. From the corner of her eye, Delphine noticed the notification light blinking next to her elbow. Chewing on the inside of her lip, Delphine thought for a moment. They could use some good news Delphine decided, and she unlocked the phone.

It was only a message from Sarah, asking Cosima whether or not she was all right. With a groan, Delphine slammed the phone back on the counter. She rubbed her eyes, listening to Cosima stumble about in the other room.

Of course she understood why Cosima was frustrated, Delphine was frustrated as well. And even though she was not angry with Delphine, Cosima was shutting the French doctor out. Try as she might, Delphine could not get Cosima to calm down, the clone kept pushing her away, telling Delphine that she wanted to be left alone, that she did not want anything, and it was not helping her. Delphine had to find a way to make the clone want to keep fighting, at any cost. A patient who did not want to be cured, was impossible to help.

“Cosima?” Delphine rounded the counter, walking through the open door to the back room. It was empty, so Delphine followed the sound of a wet cough from what was being used as a bedroom. “Cosima?” Delphine asked, while she pushed the door open.

“Leave me be,” Cosima said. She was sitting on top of the pile of blankets, on the two mattresses pushed together where they slept during the night. 

Delphine shook her head. She had given Cosima space for long enough now, it was about time they came up with a solution. “ _Ma chérie,_ ” Delphine said. She sat down next to Cosima, leaning against the wall, turning slightly towards Cosima in an unspoken invitation.

The clone dropped her red tissue on the floor. Her bottom lip was trembling, but her eyes were still dry. She sighed, and finally looked up at Delphine. “I’m just too tired, Delphine,” she said. She leaned into Delphine, finally allowing herself to be held by her girlfriend.

“I know,” Delphine mumbled. She stroked Cosima’s back, and pulled her a little closer. “Are you in pain?”

“No more than usual.” The answer was yielding, and Cosima did not elaborate on it. Instead, she snuggled closer into Delphine. Cosima toyed with her hand, intertwining their fingers and squeezing softly. She smiled at Delphine.

Delphine leaned her forehead against Cosima’s. She was relieved that Cosima was no longer shutting her out, but they still needed to do something about Cosima’s health. With a long sigh, Delphine looked down at their hands. She waited for Cosima to start talking; they needed to discuss their options after what had happened last night.

Professor Duncan, who held the key to the synthetic sequence and thus to a permanent cure for Cosima, had been claimed by Rachel. Sarah and her people, who had moved heaven and Earth to find the presumed dead scientist, had in good faith given Rachel the opportunity to reunite with her father. Instead of an emotional family reunion, Rachel had abducted Ethan. This morning DYAD had contacted Sarah, who had called Cosima in tears; they were withholding any potential treatment until every last one of the self-aware clones had capitulated to the corporation.

Cosima had taken the blow hard. After her trip with Felix, she had been so elated with the sudden prospect of having a cure, but now the last of her hopes had been shattered and she was inconsolable. The clone had made it very clear shortly after she escaped, that she did not want to go back to DYAD, even if it was her last chance of a cure. Now more than ever, Delphine believed that it really was the choice Cosima would have to reconsider sometime soon.

Delphine pressed a kiss to Cosima’s forehead. There had to be a way to find and create a cure without DYAD’s recourses, Delphine was sure of it. “Let’s think what we can do to make you better…” Delphine mumbled. She was not even particularly talking to Cosima. She was thinking out loud, trying to find a way to get Cosima to tell her what she needed. “At least improve your health a bit, make it more bearable until we find a permanent cure.”

Cosima scoffed. She looked up at Delphine with one raised eyebrow. “Do you still believe, even if we knew how, we could make a cure without DYAD’s resources?”

Delphine nodded. The technicalities of building a laboratory were surmountable, and she was less sure that they would be able to overcome the loss of professor Duncan. Even with their combined knowledge, it would be more of a challenge to solve this riddle than to actually implement the solution, Delphine thought. “Yes, I will make sure we can.”

Cosima considered the thought for a moment. She sat upright, no longer leaning against Delphine but sitting beside her. Delphine waited patiently for her to collect her thoughts. She could see that the clone had an idea, but she was still forming it. Slowly, Cosima toyed with Delphine’s hand as she thought. Then finally, she spoke, “What was the treatment DYAD gave me based on?”

“It was a stem-cell treatment,” Delphine said. Cosima knew this, Delphine had told her when she had first administered the treatment. “To boost your immune system”

Cosima rolled her eyes. “Right, but where did these cells come from? There must be a donor. If we can find this donor, we might be able to fabricate another treatment. To buy time, or maybe even, like, make an actual cure.” She gestured wildly with her hands, trying to get her point across to Delphine. “If only we knew who it was,”

“I know,” Delphine whispered. She bit her lip, looking at Cosima.

“You do? But that is great! Why didn’t you tell me?” Cosima tumbled over her words in her enthusiasm. “Who is it?”

Delphine lowered her head, hiding her face behind her curls. “Kira.”

It took Cosima a moment to process this. Finally, she said, “No.” She shook her head frantically, with an expression of pure disbelief.

“Yes.”

“Please tell me that’s some sick joke,” Cosima insisted.

Delphine shook her head and looked up at Cosima. She would not joke about this, and Cosima knew it.

Cosima dropped Delphine’s hand. She ran her hands through her dreadlocks. Her eyes were wide behind her glasses, as she tried to understand the implications of the revelation. “How did they harvest her?” she asked, and then with a gasp, she said, “Does Sarah know?”

“No, she doesn’t know,” Delphine insisted. “It was a, uhm, tooth _lacteal_. A children’s tooth,” she said, gesturing at her mouth as she was at loss for words in English.

“A baby tooth?”

Delphine dropped her hands down in defeat. “Yes, that.”

Cosima groaned. She got up from her seat on the mattress, and walked to the other side of the room. “Why didn’t you tell me Kira was the donor?” she asked. She crossed her arms, and leaned against the doorframe.

“Because I didn’t know she existed,” Delphine said, emphasising the last word. She glanced up at Cosima. The angry expression on the clone’s face felt like a stab in her chest. Quickly, Delphine pushed herself up from the mattress and into a standing position. “She was just an anonymous relative, I didn’t know you had a seven year old niece!”

“But when you found out I did, you must have known she was the donor.”

Delphine did not answer Cosima. Of course she had known. The moment she heard Sarah mention her daughter, Delphine had realized where the stem cells for Cosima’s treatment had come from. And even though the fact that Sarah had been capable of conceiving was a miracle, the implications of one of the clones having a biological child were much more severe than just the possibility despite the lengths their makers had gone at to prevent it. Delphine bit her lip, hoping that Cosima would be able to see that Kira could be useful.

“Why did you not tell me then?” Cosima asked. Her lip was trembling and her hands hung limply by her side. 

“I was afraid,” Delphine admitted, “That you would not want another stem-cell treatment if you knew.”

That statement rubbed Cosima in the wrong way. “You mean if I knew that it meant harvesting my sister’s seven year old kid for parts?” she said, dangerously calm.

“ _Oui,_ ” Delphine whispered

Frustrated, Cosima asked, “So what was your plan?”

“I wanted to ask Sarah, on your behalf,” Delphine explained. Once she had figured out where the tooth had come from, she had been trying to find a way to talk to Sarah. Delphine had not wanted to raise any false hope in Cosima, if only Cosima would understand that.

“And use them on me without me knowing that they were Kira’s,” Cosima concluded.

Delphine took a step towards Cosima, reaching out to her. She did not answer, Cosima did not understand what Delphine had been trying to do for her.

“Despite the fact that you knew that I would refuse that?” Cosima’s mouth hung open, her eyebrows raised, while she did not lash out at all. 

Again, Delphine took a careful step closer to Cosima. With a trembling hand, she opened her mouth to try to reason with Cosima.

“No,” Cosima shook her head and took a step back.

Delphine stumbled. “Cosima,” she pleaded.

“No, don’t!”

“It was working. You were improving,” Delphine tried to justify her actions. Her gestures became more forceful and she realized too late that she was raising her voice. Delphine did not understand why Cosima would not understand that she had no other options, slowly she was growing mad with frustration.

“Holding back information like this, handing me over to those people to be experimented without my consent, or even knowledge,” Cosima’s voice grew louder as she listed the many ways Delphine had wronged her. “Did you ever stop to think for once that this is my decision and not yours?”

“There is no decision, Cosima. You have one way forward, and this is it,” Delphine interrupted her before Cosima could finish her sentence. How did Cosima not see, that she needed time, and Kira could give her that? “Kira is the only cure we have. We just have to find a way to fabricate a treatment from her, to help you.”

“That is not a permanent solution,” Cosima argued. Her usually so relaxed body was tense in a way Delphine had never seen before. Her fists were clenched, her jaw was set strong, and she was wearing a deep frown. “It is only a temporary reprieve.”

“Don’t say that Cosima,” Delphine begged her. She could feel the tears start to rise. This was why she had not told Cosima sooner, because she knew the clone would not be able to make such a tough and emotional decision. Delphine had only wanted to help Cosima, to give her a clear conscience, while she would be able to live. “Kira might give us time to find a permanent solution.”

“If we harvest her for more,” Cosima said.

“Yeah,” Delphine admitted. She knew that it was a lot to ask from such a young child, but Delphine would do anything if it meant a month more for Cosima. A month, which could safe her life.

“Out!” Cosima said, so soft that Delphine could barely hear her.

The panic slammed into Delphine like a runaway train. She had to convince Cosima it was her only option. “You don’t understand,” Delphine tried to negotiate with Cosima.

“I do understand,” Cosima interrupted Delphine. “This is my body! My decision! I am the science!” She yelled. The clone was trembling. She had lost all control, screaming at Delphine. “Get out!”

“Fine, I need a smoke,” Delphine said. She needed a moment to calm down, and so did Cosima. Neither of them was able to reason properly right now. Delphine grabbed her jacket from the chair and walked away with large strides. 

When Delphine slammed the door shut, she heard Cosima smash a plate or cup inside. 

Delphine groaned. It was cold outside, and she wanted to go back. But if Cosima had asked for some space, Delphine would give it to her; it was not as if anybody was still looking for them after they had been gone for three weeks. Delphine started to make her way down to one of the stores down the street to get a pack of cigarettes. In her anger, she craved a smoke. By the time she would be done and back from to the store, surely Cosima would have calmed down enough to see reason.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Lactéale_ = deciduous
> 
> And once again, there will be no chapter next week. I’m sorry for being so very inconsistent lately, I did warn you that I would have a vague, yet busy schedule, and it’s even worse than I had anticipated. I should be back in two weeks.


	15. Cosima +29

Cosima was still in bed, despite the fact that the sun was shining and the day had started hours ago. Perhaps she should eat breakfast. Knowing Felix, there would not be anything suitable to start the day with in his pantry. Cosima sighed. Any other day she might have forced herself to get up and do groceries, but ever since Delphine had disappeared, Sarah insisted Cosima should stay inside.

With another sigh, Cosima curled up further. She pulled her knees against her chest and drew the covers up over her head. Felix had left to spend the night with somebody else; he was probably fed up with Cosima’s constant bad mood. She did not blame him. Frankly, Cosima liked to finally be able to be miserable in peace all by herself.

Just when she was about to drift back into the sweet nothingness that was sleep, a phone rang. Cosima groaned and buried her head under one of the pillows until the sound stopped.

When the person on the other side did not give up, and was calling for a third time within five minutes, Cosima managed to get up from between the warm sheets. For a moment, she swayed as she stood beside the bed. The sudden cold and swift movement had her spinning, and she needed to steady herself on the edge of the wardrobe next to the bed.

Once she had stabilised herself, Cosima searched around for the source of the sound. It was not her own clone-phone. Cosima was intimately familiar with that sound, since Sarah called her at least three times a day to check in on her. Following the unfamiliar ringtone, Cosima was led its source in her suitcase, which she had yet to unpack. In one of the pockets to the side, stuffed between a pair of Sarah’s socks, and Alison’s underwear, Cosima found Delphine’s phone. The caller had hung up once again, but before Cosima could check the voice mail, the phone rang again.

Cosima did not recognize the number. It was a Canadian landline, that much she knew. Of course she was not familiar enough with Canadian numbers to figure out whether it was a local number or not. Either way, Cosima did not think twice about picking the phone up. After Delphine had left, Cosima had turned it back on, not caring whether it might be traced; she had hoped that Delphine might try to reach Cosima with it. And just when she had lost the very last of her hope that Delphine would find Cosima back, she called.

“Delphine?”

“Sorry to disappoint you,” a familiar British voice replied. “You’re speaking to Rachel Duncan. I have a message for you from Dr. Cormier.”

Cosima sank down onto the couch. “What?” she asked. With a cough into her hand, she waited. There was no point in jumping to conclusions; Rachel was probably just playing a game with her. Delphine was way too clever to let herself get caught by DYAD.

Rachel seemed in no hurry, she let Cosima wait for a moment before she continued. “Dr. Cormier wishes to tell you to surrender yourself,” she said calmly. “DYAD is willing to let Dr. Cormier go, in exchange for you and Sarah’s surrender.”

“What?” Cosima nearly choked on her next cough. It took her a moment to recover from what she had heard, if she had even heard it correctly. “You’re kidding, right?”

“I assure you, I’m not,” Rachel stiffly said. “You, and Sarah, have until midnight to surrender yourselves. Don’t forget to bring Kira along.” She did not wait for a reaction, but hung up the phone as soon as she had finished the last sentence.

Stunned, Cosima stared at the silent phone in her hand. She wondered for a moment whether Rachel actually expected her to come over and submit to another experimental trial fabricated of innocent children. Cosima had still not told Sarah about the tooth. Sarah seemed worried enough, and she had Kira well protected; there was really no reason for her to add more stress to Sarah’s burden.

Cosima dropped the phone next to her on the couch as she considered her options. Really, she did not have much of an option, if Delphine was in danger, which she had to be, because she was all alone in the clutches of Rachel, Cosima had to help her. After all, it was Cosima’s fault Delphine had ran away in the middle of the night. 

Swearing softly, Cosima started pulling some clothes out of the suitcase. There was no way she would even consider asking Sarah or Kira to go to DYAD. Besides, Delphine would not want to endanger any of them. She would most likely stop Cosima if she knew what the clone was about to do.

For a moment, Cosima hesitated. She got up from the floor, and walked to Felix’s closet. If there was even the slightest option of her getting imprisoned in that basement again, she would not go down wearing a bubble-gum coloured turtleneck. She pulled one of Felix’s sweaters over her head, it was far too large, but comfy and slightly closer to Cosima’s personal style.

After having put a pair of shoes on and buttoning her coat up, Cosima borrowed a scarf from Felix as well. She was already cold and tired; she did not need to get any sicker. Before she left, Cosima scribbled a note to let Felix know where she was and what she was up to. For a moment, Cosima thought and then added a farewell at the bottom, just in case.

She put the note on not yet dry painting on the easel in the middle of the room. Felix would notice it there; he had said he was going to finish Cosima’s painting tonight. After a last look around, Cosima took Delphine’s phone and slid open the heavy door.

\---

Cosima walked through the automatic doors into the large glass lobby of the DYAD institute. The last time she had been here it had been quiet and almost completely dark. This time the sun was shining through the large windows, and people were walking around the lobby and the semi-open floors above her. Some were alone, others were chatting in couples or small groups, and all of them were busy, walking in all directions. Nobody seemed to notice the clone standing next to the entrance.

“Good morning.” Somebody had noticed her. He was wearing a familiar guard’s uniform, and despite his friendly face, Cosima took an instinctive step back.

She swallowed. She had come this far; she might as well finish what she had started. “Hello, I’m here to see Dr. Cormier?” Cosima said. Her voice sounded a bit higher than usual, as she tried to look as innocent as possible. Cosima had expected to be seized by multiple guards as soon as she walked through the door, but this guard did not seem very keen on catching her. Perhaps Rachel had not really believed she would be so stupid as to actually surrender, and had not informed the person guarding the front entrance to apprehend anybody with a face like her own.

“Of course you are, do you know where her office is?” The guard looked away, chewing his gum impatiently. “Have you been here before?”

“Oh, I’ve been here before.” Cosima said. She looked around the lobby. When somebody entered through the door, she moved aside to let him in. He flashed his employee card at the guard, and walked towards the elevators. Cosima stared in the direction he had left, unsure whether she needed permission to continue.

“All right.” The guard popped his bubble gum. He turned around and walked back to his station. “Have a nice day.”

It took Cosima a few seconds to get moving. If she had thought she would be able to sneak into the building without Rachel noticing, she would have at least attempted to disguise herself. With a careful glance at the guard, Cosima started to walk across the lobby.

Once she had taken the first step, it took all Cosima’s self-control to not start running. She made it to the elevator, and got in with several other people.

Cosima did not dare to look any of the people in the elevator in the face. There had to be people here who would recognize her face. Even if not all of them were familiar with the underground cloning projects their company was working on, they had to have seen Rachel. Cosima buried her face in the scarf, and looked down at her feet for the entire ride. She had no idea at what floor she had to be, so she had not pushed any buttons. The guard’s mention of Delphine’s office had confused Cosima; she had assumed that Delphine would be locked up in the basement. Perhaps she was and the guard did not know it. If Cosima did find Delphine’s office empty, she would try to get access to the basement floor.

When the last person got off the elevator at the pre-ultimate floor, Cosima followed her outside. For a moment, she hesitated. Then, before anybody would suspect she did not belong here, she picked an arbitrary direction and started walking. Most of the rooms were not offices, and Cosima skipped them and hurried along the corridors. Without ever slowing down, Cosima read the name signs next to the office doors. 

“Excuse me, where do you think you’re going?” 

Cosima stopped in the middle of a step. She set her foot down carefully, and slowly turned around. 

A few feet behind her, a middle-aged man wearing a lab coat was standing holding a stack of papers. “Visitors are not allowed on this floor,” he said. He quickly walked over to where Cosima was standing, looking down on her.

“Uhm, sorry,” Cosima said. She smiled sweetly at him. She tilted her head, and batted her eyes at him. “I’m looking for Dr. Cormier. I think got a bit lost, silly me.” 

“Her office is not on this floor,” the man said. He smiled at her, looking a bit less stern already.

“Oh, sorry. Totally my fault. I’ll be going then.”

“Hold up,” the man said. “Let me show you the way.”

Cosima swallowed a cough. “That’s not necessary,” she said, gesturing dismissively. She smiled at him, and tried to squeeze past him in the small corridor. 

“Yes it is,” he said. He grabbed Cosima’s arm, and turned her back around. Pushing her towards the stairs Cosima had not noticed. With a grin, he pointed upstairs.

With the stranger following close behind, Cosima climbed the stairs to the top floor. Uncomfortably, she tried to think of something to say that would not sound suspicious. Her mind was not cooperating, the entire expedition was confusing Cosima. She wished Sarah had been here with her, she would know what to do. It crossed Cosima’s mind that it had been incredibly naïve to just walk in, hoping that she would have been able to walk out again. When she reached the top floor, Cosima reminded herself that Delphine was worth it.

Her guide pushed her towards the right, so Cosima obliged. This corridor was much wider, and expensively decorated. Growing uncomfortably warm under the pressing gaze of the stranger, Cosima unwound her scarf from her neck, and unbuttoned her coat as they walked.

They had not gone very far before Cosima noticed a familiar head of curls bent over one of the desks. Delphine was deeply engrossed in something on her computer, giving Cosima the opportunity to watch her for a moment.

“Here you are,” the man said. He knocked on the glass door, and without waiting for a response from the woman behind the desk he opened it for Cosima. 

“Awesome, thanks,” Cosima said. She smiled at him, and walked into the room without looking back. 

Delphine, who had not looked up when she had heard the knock on the door, abruptly looked at the door when she heard Cosima’s voice, dropping the pencil in her hand. “Cosima?” she said when she saw the clone standing in the middle of the room. “Have you lost your mind?” Delphine got up from her seat. Her hair was messy, and her pants were slightly wrinkled. She looked pale and tired, as if she had not slept since Cosima had last seen her. With shaking hands, Delphine asked, “What are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here?” Cosima stood in the middle of the room, she could not take another step. After Rachel’s call, Cosima had hurried to the institute expecting an imprisoned Delphine, awaiting her rescue. And despite the guard’s insinuation, Cosima had not for a moment believed that Delphine would be sitting in a fancy office, working for the man. “What are you doing here?”

Delphine got up from her chair. She walked around the desk, ignoring Cosima and closing the door behind her. When she returned, she took Cosima’s hand and pulled her towards the couch. “I work here,” she said, after having sat the clone down. She took a seat next to Cosima. “Are you all right? Why are you here?” Delphine rapidly asked. One of her hands was already on Cosima’s forehead, while the other was on the clone’s wrist, checking her pulse.

“Are you mad? I thought you were dead or something,” Cosima said. She pulled her hand free, and moved a little back. She stared at Delphine, dressed in one of her tailored business suits. Despite seeming quite tired, Delphine looked well taken care of. She did not appear to be hurt, or even imprisoned. “You just disappear in the middle of the night. I haven’t heard from you for like a week, and now Rachel calls me that she wants to make an exchange. And you work here?” Cosima was gesturing wildly, almost knocking the painting above the couch off the wall.

Delphine frowned. She glanced over Cosima’s shoulder at the door, before turning her attention back at Cosima again. “An exchange? Cosima, what are you talking about?”

“Your freedom for mine,” Cosima said, “And Sarah and Kira.”

“Is that why you’re here?” Delphine took Cosima’s hands, gripping them tightly.

“Well, yeah.” Cosima looked Delphine in the eyes, as she tried to figure out what was going on in the immunologist’s mind. “Of course. I was worried about you,” she said. Cosima rubbed the palm of Delphine’s hand with her thumbs.

Delphine did not say anything. She was chewing her bottom lip, apparently in deep thought. She looked worried and pained, staring at Cosima.

Impatient, Cosima broke the silence. She did not like being here in this building, and she could not stand the idea of Delphine being here. She had too many questions, and Delphine’s odd behaviour made the clone even more uncomfortable. “Don’t look at me like that,” Cosima said, tilting her head in an attempt to get Delphine to look her in her eyes. “Talk to me. Explain what’s going on here.”

“I,” Delphine started, before looking down. “I didn’t think you’d do that for me.”

“Well, apparently it wasn’t necessary,” Cosima scowled. She was growing impatient with whatever game Delphine was playing; Cosima needed some answers. “While I was worried sick, you’re just working for them. In a hella nice office, by the way,” Cosima gestured widely at the fancy room. “Why?”

Delphine looked around the room as if it was the first time she saw it. Shaking her head, she dismissed her surroundings and focussed on Cosima. “You need a cure, Cosima,” she said. She squeezed Cosima’s hands again, trying to get Cosima to understand the severity of the situation. “You need DAYD for that.”

Cosima shook her head. She could not fight this fight again with Delphine, she did not want to go back to DYAD, and somehow Delphine had tricked her into coming here. “You could have told me you were here,” Cosima said. She could feel her bottom lip already start to tremble, as she looked away from Delphine. She pulled her hands into her own lap. Not touching, or looking at, Delphine made it easier to withstand her logic.

“I was going to. I didn’t want to put you in danger,” Delphine insisted, her accent was growing more pronounced.

“Ugh.” Cosima rolled her eyes, looking over Delphine’s shoulder instead of at her face. “So you just run away in the middle of the night to join the enemy,” she concluded.

“I went back so you would not have to,” Delphine said. She leaned to the side, blocking Cosima’s view of the window.

“Well, I’m here now.” Cosima gestured at the room around them. “Why didn’t you contact me sooner? Let me know you were still alive. Why did I have to hear from Rachel that you were here?”

Delphine swallowed. She hesitated for a moment before she answered, “They’re listening, they’re following my every move. I was scared they would find you if I so much as called you.”

“Well, Rachel found me now,” Cosima said. She was growing more nervous by the minute. She wanted nothing more than to run, but she needed answers, and Delphine’s explanation was far from satisfying.

“She’ll be here now any moment, I suppose. I don’t know why she has called you. She didn’t tell me she was planning to do that,” Delphine said. She looked at the door. Nobody was there yet, but Delphine seemed just as nervous as Cosima was. Her sentences were messy, and her accent was strong.

“I don’t want to go back there, Delphine,” Cosima admitted. She had braved that possibility coming here. She had known that there was a risk that she would be locked up again, if she were to walk into the headquarters of the mad scientists. Cosima had been well aware of her stupidity, but she could not live with herself if she had not at least tried to find Delphine.

“You won’t. I’ll make sure you won’t,” Delphine said as she shook her head. “Rachel is bluffing, she has no real power here. She’s just as much a part of the experiment as you are.”

Irritated with Delphine’s peculiar behaviour, Cosima scoffed. “So what, you’re going to lock both of us up in a cage to experiment on us?”

“No!” Delphine tried to grab Cosima’s hands again. When she failed, she laid her own hands down on her lap. “No, neither of you will be locked up. You should leave and not come back. I’ll contact you as soon as it is safe to do so.” Delphine glanced at Cosima, with a sad smile, she begged, “Please trust me.”

Cosima shook her head. “How can I trust you, when you’re right back here with the enemy?” she asked. She had wanted to add more to the impeachment, but was interrupted by a harsh cough.

While Cosima was preoccupied with the tightness in her throat, Delphine stood up from the couch. She walked over to her desk, and collected something from one of the drawers, and something else from her desk.

Cosima swallowed the last of the blood and mucus in her mouth when Delphine joined her on the couch again. Delphine handed her a tissue from a small pack. With a grateful smile, Cosima wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. When she was done, she dropped the crumpled tissue on the table.

“I am director of the institute now,” Delphine said. She gave Cosima a glass of water. “I’ll do everything I can to make sure DYAD will find a cure for you and your sisters.”

Almost choking on a sip of water, Cosima looked up at Delphine. She wondered what the monitor-gone-AWAL had done to shoot to the top of this multinational corporation so rapidly. There had to be more to this. Cosima’s face grew cold, her hands started shaking and she set the glass down on the table. There had been something wrong with Rachel’s call, and she had known it. No, something had been wrong since Delphine had walked away without letting Cosima know at all that she was still alive.

“So you are a Neolutionist after all.” Cosima raised her eyebrow, daring Delphine to prove her wrong. Suddenly, she could not get out of this place soon enough. She wanted to get away, far away from the person she had trusted, and who had betrayed her once again. “Awesome.” She stood up from the couch, buttoning her coat back up.

“Cosima,” Delphine said. She got up from the couch and blocked Cosima’s path to the door. “I’m doing this for you,” she said. Her bottom lip was shaking, and she pushed the hair out of her face. “You understand?”

Cosima shook her head. She did not trust her voice, she was so angry with Delphine, with herself. She tried to walk around Delphine, but the tall woman took a step to block her exit again. Cosima looked up at Delphine.

“Here, in case you need it,” Delphine shoved the pack of tissues into Cosima’s pocket. “I’m sure Rachel told her men to stop you, but I’ll get somebody from security to safely escort you out of the building.”

Shaking her head, Cosima pushed past Delphine. They bumped shoulders, but this time Delphine did not try to stop the clone from leaving. Almost running, Cosima never lifted her head once while she ran down the stairs and across the lobby. Only when she was across the street from the steel and glass building, did she look back.


	16. Delphine +21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a tiny flashback, starting a short while after chapter 14.

Delphine leaned against the brick wall outside the gas station. With shaking hands, she lit her second cigarette. Feeling detached, she watched people walking and driving along the street. A couple of cafes and restaurants were still open, and people were leisurely entering and exiting them, or walking along the street, ignoring the lone woman standing on the corner.

She longed to go back to Cosima. Would the clone have calmed down sufficiently by now to see reason? Delphine was afraid not, so she forced herself to stand next to the corner until she had finished this cigarette. It tasted revolting, and yet it was somehow soothing. Delphine took another drag, and felt the acid rise in her throat. It swirled around her brain, feeding her dysphonia. How had everything gone so very wrong? She needed to go back, leaving Cosima alone made her tenser.

After dropping the butt of the cigarette to the floor, Delphine crushed it under her heel. She pulled her coat a little tighter around her and started to make her way back. On her way to the store she had wandered a bit further than she had intended since most stores had been closed; apparently it had been later than she had thought. Knowing that there must be a shorter route back to the alley giving access to the safe house, Delphine took a right instead of taking the same way back.

For a few blocks, she wandered in deep thought. Her mind kept spinning in the same circles over and over again. Delphine no longer knew what to do. Should she follow Cosima down her blind and emotionally biased rabbit hole, which would unquestionably lead to a slow and agonizing death for the clone, albeit on her own terms and in freedom? 

Looking up before she crossed a busy intersection, Delphine spotted something glistening in the distance. It was the glass and steel of the DYAD institute, where lights were still on and ground breaking research continued around the clock. Faltering in the middle of the street, Delphine fumbled with the lighter in her pocket. Would she dare to do it? It meant a certain death for herself, and likely more painful than Cosima’s would be if she did not, but perhaps Delphine could give the clone a chance of survival, even if Cosima did not want it.

The pickup truck right next to Delphine sounded its horn. Delphine nearly jumped out of her skin. She shot the driver a look. “ _Putain,_ ” she mumbled. Quickly, she got to the sidewalk, and turned right as she lit another cigarette.

\---

Delphine dropped the hot tool on the counter. She shook her head, and forcefully brushed her hair once again. After washing her hair in the sink for weeks, a good shower and blow-dry had made her curls particularly fluffy. Slowly, she forced herself to look away from her own reflection; there was no time to waste, they would be here any moment now.

Everything was exactly as she had left it, the bed was made, her clothes were still in the wardrobe, and her toothbrush had been where she had left it next to the sink. With large strides, Delphine crossed the bedroom. She selected a pair of dress pants, and a matching jacket. She put on a blouse ironed so stiff that Delphine could still make out the angles of the cloth-hanger after she had put it on, and the highest heels she could find.

Once she was all suited up, Delphine made her way back to the living space of the apartment Leekie had given her when she had first come to Canada. With a sigh, Delphine sank down on the couch. She almost missed the face of Neolution. At least Aldous had been easy to manipulate, Rachel was much harder to get a grip on.

Impatiently, Delphine lit another cigarette. She had been back for almost thirty minutes now, DYAD must have known the second she had walked through the front door. Hurriedly, Delphine had showered and dressed. Not out of vanity, but because she knew she would need the composure for what was to come, and the only way to achieve it was to look the part.

There was no knock to warn Delphine, just the sound of a key being turned in the lock.

Hastily, she straightened her back.

“Dr. Cormier, how lovely to see you again.”

Unhurriedly, Delphine took another drag of her cigarette before she turned her head to face the person who had just walked through the door.

Rachel stood just inside the room, with her hand still on the door handle. In the hallway, Delphine could clearly see two guards. The threat was obvious, but Delphine did not understand why Rachel would come to see the runaway immunologist herself, instead of sending some of her henchmen to collect Delphine and take the information she wanted so desperately.

Nervously, Delphine chewed on her lip. She was glad she had forgotten her phone in the safe house, and beyond all she hoped Cosima would be long gone by now. Despite her intentions, Delphine knew very well that even the toughest people could be forced to give information they did not want to share. The only reason Delphine was facing that chance, was because she hoped that in return for it, she might be able to get a cure for Cosima and her sisters. “Miss Duncan, a pleasure as always,” Delphine finally managed to greet Rachel.

“I see you’ve made yourself at home once again,” Rachel said. She did not look down at Delphine, still sitting on the couch. Instead, she walked straight across the room without as much as a glance left or right. “How marvellous. I’m glad to know that you are so very comfortable with the home DYAD has provided for you.”

Delphine swallowed. She turned around to keep an eye on Rachel, who had passed behind her. Delphine shifted slightly in her seat. She had no idea what to say to the clone. Despite the whole speech she had prepared in the shower, Delphine no longer knew how to demand a cure for Cosima.

Rachel stood in front of the window, with her back to Delphine. In the dark glass Delphine could see the reflection of the clone’s impassive face as Rachel spoke. “Due to circumstances we are willing to overlook your recent absence.”

“My absence?” Delphine frowned. “I, I don’t…”

Rachel turned around and shut Delphine up with a single gesture of her hand. Slowly, she walked away from the window, and sat down next to Delphine. As she crossed her ankles, her knee touched Delphine’s leg. “Tell me, how is my dear sister doing,” Rachel said with a polite smile. She folded her hands in her lap, and tilted her head in a way that reminded Delphine of Cosima.

“She’s fine,” Delphine said brusquely. She looked straight at Rachel.

“You know, you’re not a very convincing liar,” Rachel said. She gave Delphine a hollow smile. “I have been told that, if the disease has spread at the same pace in her as in the rest of the clones, the growths should have spread far beyond her lungs into her esophagus and epithelial tissue, perhaps even her kidneys. She must be quite ill, and in a lot of pain.”

Delphine did not blink; she simply stared back at Rachel. This was no new information to the immunologist.

“You know that there is a cure for her, don’t you, Delphine?”

Delphine could no longer keep up the blank expression, and she sighed as her smile faded. Looking down, Delphine asked, “Why else would I be here?”

Rachel nodded. She waited a moment, and when Delphine did not elaborate, she said, “Professor Duncan has given us the synthetic sequence, with his key and your help, we can unlock a real cure, not some stem cell treatment drained from a poor child.”

“What do you want from me?” Delphine had been expecting a very different welcome. Rachel’s kindness, albeit it obviously being fake, was confusing Delphine. “I won’t give you Cosima, if that’s what you want. She doesn’t want to be experimented on any more.”

“Oh no, I would never,” Rachel said. She seemed appalled by the idea. “Things are different now that Aldous is gone, I intend to take this company in an entirely new direction.” 

It suddenly dawned on Delphine that Rachel needed a cure almost as much as Cosima did. If anyone at the DYAD institute was invested in creating a cure, it had to be Rachel Duncan. Perhaps it would be not as complicated as Delphine had thought to convince Rachel that Delphine was the one to make it. “Cosima doesn’t trust you,” Delphine said, hoping that Rachel would not insist on Cosima returning to the experiment.

“Do you?”

“No.” Delphine shook her head calmly.

Rachel did not appear fazed at all by what Delphine had said. “Well, you are clever after all. If you don’t trust me, then why did you return to the experiment Dr. Cormier?”

“It is because I’m committed to my subject that I’m here,” Delphine stated diplomatically.

“Well said, Dr. Cormier.” Rachel was apparently pleased by her answer. They were both silent for a moment. “I’d like you to take over as interim director of the program,” Rachel then said.

“Me?”

Rachel slowly shifted in her seat, moving a little further from Delphine. “The chair is vacant,” she said with an accomplished hand gesture. “You understand the human side and the science. You’d be a wonderful ambassador.”

Delphine frowned at Rachel’s statement. 

“It’s not a bribe,” Rachel said.

Delphine chewed on the inside of her cheek. It had to be a bribe.

“Or a ploy.”

It definitely was a ploy. Delphine struggled to figure out the trap; there had to be something. Looking at the door, Delphine tried to find a way out of this strange situation. She had not gone back to DYAD to become its ornamental figurehead; Delphine had abandoned Cosima to crawl back to her makers to beg for a cure for the dying clone.

“You’re uniquely qualified,” Rachel continued ignoring Delphine’s internal struggle.

Delphine interjected. “I’m sorry. Are you not going to punish me? Or fire me?”

“Of course not. Why would we do that?” Rachel laughed the question away.

“I disappeared for nearly a month,” Delphine said. I helped a clone escape, she thought. It made no sense that after destroying months of process, Delphine would get a promotion.

With a condescending pat on Delphine’s shoulder, Rachel said, “Oh well, we will just call it a leave of absence, and leave it at that. I expect you back at work tomorrow morning, and we will discuss treatment plans with professor Duncan.”

“I, uhm. All right,” Delphine stammered. Briefly she wondered if she should make a run for it. There was no way she could go back to the safe house now; she would surely be followed. Any phone call to Cosima, any attempt to contact her, they would find her in a second. Glancing again at the guards, Delphine resigned to whatever Rachel might be plotting for her.

“Goodnight then,” Rachel said. She stood up, and straightened her skirt. Slowly, she walked towards the door, only to turn around when she was on the doorstep. “Oh, and if you see my sister, give her my kind regards.” With a smile she left Delphine alone, leaving the door open.

Delphine blinked sheepishly at the guards still posed at the door. When neither of them moved to follow Rachel, Delphine got up and slammed the door shut. 

She sank back into the couch, mulling over the conversation again and again. For hours, she paced around the apartment, not daring to go outside or fall asleep because she feared that DYAD might catch her if she did. She finished the entire pack of cigarettes, and still by the time she saw the sun rise, Delphine had not figured out what Rachel’s plan was.

Since she had no options left, Delphine put her coat on and left for work a little before seven in the morning, followed by the two guards.


	17. Cosima -92

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another flashback. This time day 163 of Privilege of Partial Perspective, somewhere between chapter 16 and 17. Perhaps I should have made this a tiny bit more chronological. I’ve been feeling like I totally lost the plot lately, sorry about that.  
> The quality is going down rapidly, and yet I don’t want to quit this fic completely. I will finish this, but I’ve reconstructed it so that it will be a significantly shorter, and if for some reason you’re still reading this fic after the crappy last 10+ chapters, you won’t have to suffer through that much more.  
> In addition to my own personal struggles (with this fic, and other stuff) I can see clone club dispersing into other fandoms, and though it saddens me and is incredibly demotivating, I do understand why. For the sake of those of you who are still invested, I will not quit yet, because I do appreciate every single one of you, and don’t want to let you down. Whether you comment/leave kudos or not, you have kept me going for over a year, and though I will most definitely not be writing fanfic for another fandom anytime soon, I won’t stop writing, even if it’s just for me. I’ve met the most incredibly kind and inspiring people in this fandom, and am not ready to completely abandon it yet, but I will be slowly easing down the writing fanfic part.

“What are you doing?” Delphine ran towards Cosima and took her laptop away from her. 

Shocked, Cosima put her hands up in the air. Delphine had never before lashed out like that. The French woman was unnaturally easy to live with, especially considering the cultural differences. Delphine never minded Cosima using her belongings without asking. “I was looking for that paper you mentioned yesterday,” Cosima finally said when she had recovered from the shock of Delphine’s angry look. “The one about extrapolation of murine models. But I don’t know the title or the author, so I obviously can’t find it online.”

Delphine was still frowning, but her expression had softened a little. “What do you need that for?” She set the laptop down, and sat in the chair next to Cosima.

They were now both sitting at the kitchen table. It was still relatively early. Or at least earlier than Cosima used to be awake at during Saturday mornings before Delphine had moved here. The dishes from breakfast were shoved to the side, while Delphine had taken a shower. All alone, Cosima had remembered that paper, and went looking for it. When she could not find it quickly enough, Cosima had just been about to have a look on Delphine’s laptop before she had been interrupted. “Uhm, for, like, fun.”

Slowly, Delphine raised an eyebrow. She adjusted the laptop a bit more, and started searching for something. She ran her hand through her still damp curls, and ignored Cosima completely.

“I’m sorry, you seemed really enthusiastic about it. I wanted to read it.”

“Sorry,” Delphine seemed sincerely apologetic. “I’m sorry. I just…” She stammered, and paused for a moment to look up at Cosima. “It’s still running a simulation. It makes me nervous about people touching it.”

Cosima nodded. “Oh, I had no idea. It won’t happen again,” she promised. Most people would not run programmes on their laptop, but then again, Delphine had complained about her work computer being turned off by people meaning well, but wasting her time.

“It’s okay,” Delphine waved the comment away. “I just hadn’t saved it yet.” For a moment, she focused on her computer. “There, I sent it to you.”

“Awesome, thanks.” Cosima did not feel like checking her email right now. She sipped her coffee, while watching Delphine open the program she had been running in the background. From the distance, Cosima could not read the script, but the look on Delphine’s face showed her that the results were good. With a slow smile, Cosima waited for Delphine to be finished.

A phone rang unexpectedly. Both women started, and went looking for the source. Delphine found Cosima’s phone under a pile of papers, and handed it to her.

Curiously, Cosima took the phone. She had expected it to be Delphine’s phone, considering the early hour, and time difference with France. Often, Delphine called, or Skyped with friends or family in the early hours during the weekends. She would sit on the balcony, or if it was cold, in the living room, chatting incomprehensibly in French. 

Cosima checked the screen. It was a Canadian number, not programmed into her phone, but Cosima only knew one person in Canada who had her phone number. “I uhm, gotta take this.” Beth hardly ever called Cosima, and she always texted first.

Delphine nodded and turned her attention back to her laptop screen.

While she walked across the room, Cosima pressed the green button on her screen. She held it to her ear, and was immediately greeted by a voice similar to her own, only more serious and with a slight Canadian accent.

“Why aren’t you picking up the safe phone I gave you?” Beth demanded to know without as much as a hello first.

Looking back at Delphine, who seemed engrossed in her work, Cosima stepped out onto the balcony before she answered. “Beth?” she whispered after she had closed the door behind her.

“Yes,” her sister answered, clearly impatient.

Cosima looked out over the city. The air was cold and humid; the streets looked as if it had rained all night. Shivering, Cosima wished she had at least put on a pair of shoes, because right now her feet were burning in the cold. “Hey, how are you?”

“Why weren’t you answering your phone Cosima?”

Cosima sighed, and ran her hand through her loose dreads. “Uhm,” Cosima stalled, having a sister was turning out to be very annoying. “I don’t know. Because it’s in the back of the sock drawer, because I can’t leave it in sight because I can’t really explain to my girlfriend why I have an extra phone.”

This obviously was no social call; Beth was calling her with a specific reason. On the other end of the line, in Canada, Beth groaned. “Then what’s the point?” she asked.

Cosima had been wondering the same thing since Beth had given her the so-called clone phone. “Yeah, well you have my number. Just call me like this,” she said, not defending her lack of picking up her phone.

Groaning once again, Beth said, “I found another sister, Cosima.”

“Awesome,” Cosima exclaimed. She had assumed that Beth was calling her to pester her again about her lack of progress on deciphering their origins from the DNA samples. Amazed by the fact that Beth seemed to be able to find all these clones, and stunned that there were still clones left to find, Cosima leaned on the banister, looking at the street several floors below. After a short silence, she asked, “Where is she?”

“In Europe,” Beth answered.

Now it was Cosima’s turn to groan. She turned around, now leaning with her back against the banister. Inside, Delphine was staring at her, and smiled when Cosima met her eyes. With a tiny wave at Delphine, she said to Beth, “That’s kinda vague.”

“Well, I’m trying to keep this compartmentalized.”

“Yeah, well I still don’t get why.” Cosima faced the city again. She was growing more and more frustrated with Beth’s irrational behaviour. “You keep telling me you want me to do the science, but you have, like, no specific scientific questions, and you don’t give me anything to work with here.”

Once Cosima was done, all Beth said was, “Sorry.”

“I mean, I really can’t just read where we came from in our DNA. It’s not like there’s actual words in there or something,” Cosima said. She pulled her cardigan tighter around herself. “Now, if you’d let me sequence our genome, I can totally help you.” There was no real point in knowing their entire DNA, but Cosima had always wanted to do that. This was a perfect excuse, and it would give them perfect proof that they were one hundred per cent genetically identical.

“Fine, you do that.” Beth paused for a second. “I get your frustration, I do. Just, lay low, please.”

“Lay low?” Cosima scratched her scalp underneath her dreadlocks. “What does that mean?”

“I think we might be in danger,” Beth said on the other end of the line.

Cosima’s mouth fell open, Beth sounded earnestly upset. Despite Beth’s paranoid behaviour, the whole clone thing had been a fascinating adventure up to now. Sitting down on one of the chairs, Cosima stared at Delphine, who was doing the dishes in the kitchen. Twirling a dread between her fingers, Cosima waited for her sister to explain what the reason for her suspicions were this time.

Beth was clearly walking somewhere outside. Cosima could hear the sounds of cars and people passing by while Beth took a moment before she continued to talk. “There’s much more to this. We’re being watched, trust no one,” she finally whispered.

Irritated, Cosima rolled her eyes. This was exactly what Beth had said when they had first met, and several times afterwards as well. And yet, the cop had no actual proof that they were being watched. Cosima was sure that if she could explain this to Delphine in a way that did not make her sound completely insane, Delphine would know what to do. “Look, my girlfriend might be able to help. She’s like super clever, and she knows,” Cosima started to explain.

“Don’t tell anybody!” Beth yelled, interrupting Cosima. “I have a feeling my boyfriend is in on it too. He’s asking weird questions, following me around. He’s clearly spying on me,” she said, lowering her voice.

Cosima looked up at Delphine, who was still in the kitchen drying the dishes and totally oblivious to the conversation. Though it made sense to think that their makers would keep check on their experiments, the idea that sweet Delphine was a spy was plain silly. If they were really being watched, it had to be someone who had known them all their lives, Cosima reasoned. She refused to believe that Delphine was anything more than her girlfriend, or for that matter that Paul was anything more than just Beth’s boyfriend. “Don’t be silly. You’re being paranoid, Beth,” Cosima said. “Chill.”

“Promise me you won’t tell her,” Beth insisted.

“Fine,” Cosima said. “Do you have any proof that he’s spying on you?”

“I’m working on that.”

With a sigh, Cosima glanced again at Delphine. Beth was clearly losing her mind; calling Cosima all panicked about nothing. Aside from the fact that they had another sister, but of course she did not want to tell Cosima who that was. “Look, I gotta go. Say hi to our new sister.”

“Sure,” Beth promised. “Stay safe, Cosima.”

“You too,” Cosima said. “Bye.” She hung up the phone. For a moment, she stood and watched the gray skies. Toying with the rings on her finger, she contemplated the conversation again. Though she did not share Beth’s fear of their makers, Cosima was curious. And she would like to meet more of their clones. Perhaps next time, she would tell Beth that.

Still trying to figure out what lying low exactly meant Cosima went back inside. At least she knew a guy to help her with the sequencing. Contacting him would be the first thing she would do when she got to work on Monday.

“Everything all right?” Delphine asked.

“Hmm?” Cosima’s head shot up when Delphine spoke. “Yeah, totes fine.”

Delphine walked over to Cosima; with a warm hand she cupped Cosima’s cheek. “You look a bit confused?” she asked. Delphine had the odd habit of delivering regular sentences as if they were questions.

Cosima shook her head. For now, she would follow Beth’s advice and not tell Delphine. On the tips of her toes, she leaned up and gave Delphine a soft kiss on her lips. After pulling back, she looked into the large brown eyes gazing back at her. How could those ever lie to her? 

Grinning up at Delphine, Cosima gave her another peck. “You wanna go out?” she asked. Like, grab a cup of coffee somewhere and get some fresh air?”

“I’d like that, yes,” Delphine answered with a soft smile. She gently squeezed Cosima’s cheeks, and lingered for another moment before she let go.

Cosima left her phone on the kitchen table, and pulled on a pair of shoes and her coat. By the time she had found a scarf to match her red coat, Delphine was already dressed and waiting at the door. Taking Delphine’s hand, they left together.


	18. Delphine +29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this is getting way too confusing, there used to be more flashbacks after the previous chapter, but I cut them. We’re back at the end of chapter 15 now.

Delphine rubbed her shoulder, her fingers grazing the spot where she could still feel the pressure of Cosima’s shoulder pushing past her. She slowly turned around and just caught a last glimpse of Cosima walking fast towards the stairs.

Swearing under her breath, she ran her hand through her curls. She had not explained it well to Cosima; the clone had completely misunderstood the immunologist’s intentions. Of course Delphine did not enjoy this bleak position at the top of DYAD, but Rachel had her cornered. And now Delphine was finally in charge, they were making great progress on finding a cure for the clone disease, without it harming Cosima, or Kira.

From the hook besides the door, Delphine took her coat and purse. She ran towards the stairs, hoping to catch up with Cosima. She ran all the way downstairs, and did not see the clone. After a short glimpse into the lobby, Delphine took another stair to the basement parkade. She had lingered too long in her doubt, and now she had missed what was likely her last chance to talk with Cosima.

Delphine twisted her ankle on her way to her car. She slowed down slightly to a jog. When she had arrived at the spot where she had thought she had parked her company car this morning, she could not find it. Confused, Delphine looked around, unlocking her car. There was no beep. There were no flashing lights. Her car was gone.

Irrigated, Delphine made her way back to the lobby. Until now, they had allowed her at least the illusion of freedom. Her car, despite the fact that it was obviously being tracked, had been the embodiment of that freedom. Irritated, Delphine slammed her car keys down on the front desk. “Where is my car?” she demanded.

“Uhm,” the man, who was really there just for show, looked up from his magazine. “I don’t know. Wherever you parked it, I guess.”

Delphine opened her mouth, ready to tell yell at him, when she heard somebody calling her name from across the lobby.

“Delphine,” Rachel said again. She stopped an arms length from Delphine. “There you are. I’ve been looking for you all over. Please, do follow me.”

Shaking her head, Delphine refused. “I’m busy,” she said, not in the mood for one Rachel’s power games. Delphine was hoping to still catch up with Cosima before the clone reached wherever she was hiding out now. Delphine had heard from a colleague that they had found the safe house a day after Delphine had returned, but Cosima had been long gone. Delphine was not sure how they had found the place, but it must have had something to do with her purchase of the cigarettes or her walk from there to the institute. 

“Can you please find my car?” Delphine asked the person behind the desk, giving him one of her best fake smiles.

He sighed, and glanced at Rachel.

Before he could pick up the phone, Rachel shook her head almost unnoticeably. “I’m sorry, were you not informed?” Rachel asked Delphine. She took the taller woman by the elbow, steering her away from the desk, towards the front door. “The institute took back the company car because, as it turns out, you aren’t qualified to drive it.”

“What?” Delphine looked down at the clone next to her. “What do you mean: not qualified?”

“Oh, just some nasty bureaucratic business with your international driver’s licence. I’m sure our legal department will arrange it for you in due time,” Rachel said. She gestured with her hand, and gave Delphine a strained smile. 

They were now standing outside, on the sidewalk in front of the door. Unsure of how they had gotten outside, Delphine looked away. Rachel unsettled her. The likeliness of the corporate clone to Cosima made Delphine uncomfortable, especially because Rachel was the complete opposite of her sister. Delphine looked around, she wanted to get away.

“In the mean time, a chauffeur has been arranged for you,” Rachel said. “Isn’t that wonderful?”

Delphine glanced at the car parked a few metres in front of them. Only now she noticed the driver in the front seat. “Yes, wonderful,” she replied automatically. “Thank you.” Delphine turned around, starting to make her way back. There was no point in trying to catch up with Cosima if they could not have a private conversation.

“I thought you had somewhere to go,” Rachel said. She looked at Delphine as if she was not aware of what had just happened in the director’s office, but somehow Delphine was sure that Rachel knew she had been going after Cosima.

“Ah, no. It’s not important,” Delphine said, shrugging and trying to leave again.

“Well, in that case, you can come with me,” Rachel said. She held open the door to the backseat of the car.

“I can’t. I have things to do.”

“Oh, don’t be silly. Come with me instead. Whatever you have planned for this afternoon, it can wait.”

Delphine shook her head. If following Cosima was not an option, she would much rather spend her time in the lab than with Rachel.

“Get in,” Rachel demanded, losing her perfectly polite posture for less than a millisecond; just long enough for Delphine to notice.

“Pardon?” Delphine took a step back.

“Please, get in the car,” Rachel asked, she smiled and gestured at the backseat. “We have a long drive ahead of us.”

Delphine looked over her shoulder at the safe building. Standing just inside of the glass door was Rachel’s monitor and personal henchman. Delphine did not know his name, but she was well aware of the grip Rachel had on him, and the dirty work he did for her. With a deep breath, Delphine nodded. There was no point in fighting Rachel, that much was obvious. Holding her head high, Delphine got into the car and slid to the seat behind the driver.

Rachel joined her, and as soon as she had shut the car door, the chauffeur drove off without a word.

Quickly, Delphine put her seatbelt on. She did not want to face Rachel, so instead she looked out of the window hoping to catch a glimpse of a bright red coat against all odds. She did not. Inside the car it was completely silent.

Once they had reached the highway, Delphine realized that they were indeed going somewhere with a clear goal, and would she have to share the small space with Rachel for quite a while. She finally looked away from the window, and at the clone next to her.

Rachel was typing viciously on her phone, and did not notice Delphine looking at her.

Suddenly impatient, Delphine cleared her throat.

Rachel looked up; almost appearing surprized that Delphine was in the car with her. She raised an eyebrow.

“Where are we going?” Delphine asked.

“Oh, we’re having a girls’ afternoon,” Rachel answered with a smile. She nodded, and turned her attention back to her phone.

“A girls’ afternoon?” Delphine was not sure whether she had misheard Rachel. Occasionally the heavy and posh British accent confused Delphine, who was used to Cosima’s American babbling. It was not possible that the corporate clone was trying to bond with Delphine, was it?

Rachel looked up again. “Yes, have our nails done. Enjoy a cup of tea, have a chat. You know what I mean.”

Delphine stared at Rachel, who did not seem to be aware of the absurdity of this situation. The clone was already back on her phone, ignoring Delphine. Shaking her head, Delphine resigned to the situation. She leaned back in her seat, watching the Canadian highway pass by as Rachel ignored her for the rest of the drive.

\---

They had been taken to another city, unfamiliar to Delphine. The chauffeur had stopped the car along a crowded street in front of a beauty salon. Confused, Delphine stared at the pink store. Of all explanations that she had come up with on the long drive here, actually going to get her nails done with Rachel had not been on the list. Had the clone lost her mind, or was this her really an attempt of trying to bond with Delphine? If so, it was certainly not working.

The chauffeur was holding Delphine’s door open, waiting for her to get out.

Rachel looked at Delphine and smiled encouragingly.

Doing as she was expected, Delphine got out of the car and walked around it onto the safe sidewalk. She waited for Rachel. Delphine looked around the street in front of her, already searching for an escape route.

“Oh, I forgot,” Rachel said, once the driver had opened her door. She was barely leaning out while she spoke to Delphine. “I have a conference call with London. If you’ll excuse me, I will wait in the car and take my call here.”

“Oh, that’s okay, I will stay then.”

Rachel shook her head determinedly. “Don’t be silly. You could use a manicure. And besides, the appointment is already booked.”

Delphine looked at her nails. They looked fine to her; boring but neatly kept. Yet, Rachel’s expression was one that refused any protest. “Uhm, okay,” Delphine said. There was obviously more this conference call; Rachel never forgot an appointment. Why Delphine had to go in alone into a beauty salon was beyond her.

“Go on,” Rachel said. “And ask for Krystal.”

Delphine nodded. She glanced at the driver, who had his arms folded and was very intently not looking at Delphine, intimidating her with his presence alone. Slowly, Delphine made her way towards the door of the salon, trying very hard not to chew on her lip. Behind her, she could hear the car door being closed.

The bells over the door announced Delphine’s presence in the store and the French woman stood still for a moment. Was this the way DYAD was going to finally get rid of her, death by nail polish? Delphine looked around the room. Nobody had even glanced at her when she came in.

Unsure, Delphine continued towards what seemed to be the counter. Every second she was getting more confused, until somebody tapped her shoulder. Quickly, Delphine spun around to face her attacker. 

“Hey,” said the woman standing in front of her. Her hair was big and dyed blonde. She wore very professionally done layer of make-up, and a bright smile. Delphine’s stare was drawn lower, across her tight dress and the pair of breasts, which were clearly fake. Delphine could know; she was intimately familiar with them. “Wow,” Delphine said, looking up at another clone. Of all things, she had not been expecting this.

“You look like you saw a ghost,” the woman said. She ran her hand over Delphine’s arm. It was exactly the same as Cosima’s, except with much longer and brighter nails and a lot less rings. “Are you all right sweetie?”

“Yeah, totes,” Delphine said. She felt a bit shaky; it was never easy to meet a new clone. If only Rachel had warned her, Delphine would not have felt so shell-shocked. Suddenly it made sense that Rachel could not come inside with Delphine.

When Delphine was silent for a while, the clone spoke again. “Okay, can I help you?” she said, tilting her head and chewing her gum with an open mouth.

“Uhm, yes,” Delphine answered. “I have an appointment with Krystal. Can you let her know I’m here, please?” she said, already knowing the answer. Perhaps Rachel could have told her what exactly the point was of Delphine being here.

“That’s me,” confirmed the clone. “Follow me.” She grabbed Delphine’s hand, and gently led her to the other side of the room.

Delphine stumbled after her. She glanced out of the window, looking at the black car still parked in front of the store. Its windows were tinted, and Delphine could not see the person sitting in the backseat, but surely the passenger could see Delphine.

Krystal sat Delphine down in a chair, and started chatting as she set the equipment ready.

Delphine nodded along with Krystal, agreeing with whatever the clone said.

\---

An hour later, Delphine left the store. She felt oddly refreshed. Krystal was kind, and bubbly and somehow made Delphine smile genuinely despite all that was going on in her mind as she spoke with the clone.

Her smile fell from her face as soon as she sat down on the back seat next to Rachel.

Rachel put away the papers she had been reading in a folder and turned towards Delphine. “And? Tell me, how was your manicure?”

“That was cruel.”

Rachel signaled at the chauffeur to drive them back to Toronto. “It was necessary, I needed to know how she is doing,” she told Delphine.

“You could have sent anybody,” Delphine said, her accent breaking heavily near the end.

Looking down at Delphine’s hands, Rachel said, “Oh, but I thought you’d enjoy a manicure.”

“That was not why you send me.”

Rachel did not acknowledge the accusation. “How is she?”

Delphine tried to find the words for what she had just discovered. The beautician was very different from the rest of the clones Delphine had met so far. Especially since she was so very innocent; Krystal did not play the high-stakes game Rachel, Sarah and Cosima were playing, she did not know that information was power, and that she should not keep certain things to herself. “Naïve. And scared,” Delphine finally said. The clone had been unable to shut up about the twins who had abducted her. “Who were the men who tried to kidnap her?”

The blunt question clearly surprized the clone. She opened her mouth and thought for a moment. “They were Castor,” she finally said.

“Castor?” Delphine asked, fearing the answer.


	19. Cosima +30

Kira was sitting on the edge of her bed. She was dressed in pink pyjamas, her stuffed monkey in her lap, and her feet bungling a little above the floor. Next to her was the pile of books they had already read.

On the floor, next her bookshelf was Cosima. She was wrapped in several layers of warm clothes. She was holding a bloody tissue in her hand, while she was going through the books on the shelf. “Okay, how about this one? It’s about a witch,” Cosima asked. She held up a book for Kira to see.

“Cosima.”

Cosima turned around to look at Kira.

The child shook her head, disapproving of Cosima’s choice.

“What?”

Kira rolled her eyes. “That’s a kid’s book,” she said, as if Cosima had just insulted her tremendously.

“But it has a rainbow cat,” Cosima argued, pointing at one of the pictures in the book.

“No,” Kira said. She shook her head, and pouted.

“All right then,” Cosima gave in. She had another look at the books.

Somebody rang the doorbell. Downstairs, Siobhan, or perhaps Sarah walked over and opened the door.

Cosima ignored the sounds. There were always people coming and going in this household. Most of them Cosima did not even recognize. And S had told her that it was better if the fugitive clone did no show herself to any guests, lest DYAD find out she was occasionally here.

“Can you read me this one?” Kira asked.

Cosima looked up again.

Kira was holding an old and worn book. Upon looking closer, Cosima noticed the title; _The Island of Doctor Moreau._ Kira looked at her, pleading, “Please?”

“That’s a bit too scary for you, sweetie,” Cosima said, shaking her head. She had no idea where Kira had gotten such a book; it must come from Siobhan’s collection. Cosima made a mental note to tell Sarah that her child was reading extremely frightening stories.

The muffled sounds of a conversation came from downstairs. Cosima could not make out the words, or the owners of the voices. She ignored them. Sarah and her mother were good at the politics and the schemes; all Cosima was good for these days was hiding. And that is what she did.

Kira pouted. “But it’s a special book,” she whined.

“I’m sure it is, but lets get you something that won’t give you nightmares, okay?” Cosima said. She grabbed the closest book from the shelf. “How about this one, this looks interesting?”

“I guess,” Kira said unenthusiastically. She dropped the old book on top of the stack of books they had read earlier tonight. She crawled back to her pillow and got comfortable while she waited for Cosima to join her.

Slowly, Cosima got up from her spot on the floor; if she moved too fast her head would start spinning. Her feet were already tingling from sitting cross-legged for too long. Once she was standing, Cosima took a deep breath. With a smile, she turned around and walked towards Kira with the book.

As she crossed the room, Cosima walked past the open door. Suddenly, her smile dropped. Her step faltered as she listened more intently for what she though was impossible. 

“Please, Sarah, at least hear me out.” The sound of Delphine’s voice came drifting upstairs, tugging on Cosima, begging her to come downstairs.

Shaking her head, Cosima quickly made her way to Kira. She sat down on the edge of the bed, and said, “You know what, monkey? It’s time you go to sleep.”

Kira shook her head. “Please, just one more book,” she pleaded.

“No, honey, you really need to sleep,” Cosima said. She pulled the blanket up to cover Kira. She gathered all the books lying on the bed and put them down on the floor together with the one she had been holding. “It’s very late.”

“But,” Kira started to protest.

Cosima shook her head firmly. “Nope. It’s late, lemme tuck you in.” She gestured for Kira to scoot down, so that she could be tucked in properly. In the distance, she could now clearly hear Delphine’s voice. Once the child was comfortable and warm, Cosima handed Kira her stuffed monkey. “Sweet dreams, Kira,” Cosima said, and gave her a soft kiss on her forehead.

“Goodnight, auntie Cosima.”

Cosima smiled, and got up from the bed. At the door, she turned around and had a last look at the innocent girl lying in bed. With a tiny wave of her hand, Cosima turned the light off. 

As she left the bedroom, Cosima left the door slightly ajar so that the room would not be pitch black. Slowly, Cosima walked along the dark corridor. The carpet muffled the sound of her bare feet as she walked towards the stairs. Cosima could now clearly hear Delphine begging for Sarah to listen to her.

Cosima stood at the top of the stairs, listening. She was not eavesdropping, but simply assessing the situation before she entered a scenario she preferred to avoid, or so she told herself. Surely Sarah would tell her not to let Delphine see her, since Delphine had so obviously betrayed her. But Cosima still had questions after yesterday, and she needed answers. Would it be worth it, she wondered. And, more importantly, why was Delphine here? It did not sound as if she was looking for Cosima, it seemed almost as if she was asking for Sarah’s permission for something.

“I’m sorry,” Delphine said. “The stem cells had limited effect.”

Sarah scoffed, and Siobhan said something Cosima could not hear.

“What are you doing, Cosima?”

Cosima nearly fell down the stairs, so startled had she been by the small child standing right next to her. She had no idea how long Kira had been standing there; Cosima had not noticed her until she had spoken. Once Cosima had recovered from the shock, she whispered, “Nothing, monkey. I was just about to go downstairs.” She gave Kira a gentle nudge back towards her bedroom. “You go back to bed, okay?”

Kira nodded solemnly. She very slowly started to walk back towards her room, not turning around but keeping her eyes on Cosima.

The clone did not notice. She was already walking down the stairs. The conversation stopped, and the three women all looked at her. They looked awfully guilty, as if Cosima had caught them in some unspeakable act.

“Cosima.” Delphine was the first to break the silence.

Cosima stared at her from the pre-ultimate step. For once, she towered over Delphine, instead of the other way around. Slowly, she looked at Sarah, and then at Siobhan for an explanation. They gave her none, and thus Cosima looked at Delphine. She raised her eyebrow, daring Delphine to tell her why she had come all this way to find her.

“I didn’t know you’d be here,” Delphine said.

Cosima frowned. She had not expected Delphine to be here for any other reason than to see Cosima. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

“She’s demanding more stem cells,” Sarah said. She was leaning against the doorframe towards the living room. Clearly, Sarah was not happy with Delphine’s presence.

“Asking,” Delphine softly corrected her.

“Stem cells?” Cosima ran her hand through her hair, trying to understand why Delphine was knocking on Sarah’s door to ask for stem cells. “Oh, from Kira,” she suddenly realized. The first dose of stem cells had come from a lost baby tooth, and it had only been enough for one treatment. “Why?” Cosima asked, it was not as if DYAD was still providing her with another treatment.

“The stem cell treatment had limited effect; the disease is spreading too rapidly,” Delphine said, what she had said a thousand times before. “You need another treatment, Cosima.”

Irritated, Cosima rolled her eyes. She was about to protest, when she finally felt the cough she had been holding in for a while surface. Each of the three women took a step forward as Cosima barely covered her mouth in time with a tissue. She waved them away, and let out a few more coughs until she could breathe again. Slightly dizzy, Cosima sat down on the stairs. “I’m fine.”

Delphine immediately tried to help her, but S blocked her way. Looking at them, Cosima suddenly noticed that Siobhan was holding a shotgun. Cosima found the idea of the maternal figure with a gun so absurd, that she let out a laugh. Her mouth, still filled with blood sputtered with an awful sound, nowhere close to that of a laugh. The shocked faces of the other three women ruined the hilarity of the image, and Cosima shut up directly.

“Look at her, she’s not fine,” Delphine said. Her accent strong, and her voice breaking near the end. She took a deep breath, and pleaded again with Sarah, “She needs help.”

“I’m fine,” Cosima protested.

“You’re not,” Delphine said.

“You’re not,” Sarah said at exactly the same time.

Again, Cosima rolled her eyes. She wiped the blood from her chin with her tissue.

“What about Duncan?” Sarah asked Delphine.

“Yeah, a gene therapy?” Siobhan added. She folded her arms, staring unnervingly at Delphine. “His synthetic sequences.”

Cosima shook her head. She looked up at Delphine, they both knew that a gene therapy would take forever to make, it would most likely be too late for her. And of course, Cosima understood that this knowledge was what made Delphine try such desperate things to find another cure for the clone disease. “Even if we pinpoint the genetic cause, a therapy is months away, at best,” Cosima whispered.

Delphine nodded. Her expression softened a little, and she said, “But if we can reboot her immune system...”

“With my kid’s bone marrow?” Sarah emphasised every single word of the sentence, obviously angry with Delphine.

Cosima wondered what exactly had been discussed before she had come down the stairs. Clearly both Sarah and Siobhan were not happy with Delphine right now, and that could not just have been because of the request she had made.

“Please,” Delphine begged Sarah. She bit her lip and hesitated for a moment before trying to argue with Sarah. “Rachel claims that she’s serious about forging a new relationship.”

Siobhan laughed, and Sarah scoffed. “Oh, and you believe her?”

Cosima followed the conversation intently, but she was too weary to contribute. The choice was not hers after all, and Sarah already knew the facts, she was just scared, nothing anybody would say could possibly take that away.

“I believe that she’s as invested in this as any of you. I don’t know if I trust Rachel, but at least we could save Cosima,” Delphine told Sarah. She was looking down at the floor. Cosima suddenly noticed that she had not come further into the house than the doormat. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t her only chance,” Delphine whispered at Sarah, while stealing a glance at Cosima.

Again, Sarah opened her mouth to protest loudly.

Cosima stood up, gesturing at Sarah to be quiet. “Can we talk?” she asked Delphine. And then looked at Sarah and Siobhan. “Privately?”

Siobhan nodded. “Sure chicken, if you want,” she said. She pushed Sarah towards the kitchen, and firmly told her to be quiet when her daughter tried to protest. “We’ll be in the kitchen if you need us.”

Once they were alone, Cosima looked up at Delphine.

“Seriously, what were you thinking?” she said, loud, but not too loud. There was no door between the hallway and the kitchen. Besides, Kira was sleeping upstairs and Cosima did not want to wake her. “It’s bad enough that you ran away to join the enemy, but now you come making such requests without even consulting me first?”

“I’m not sorry.”

Slightly taken aback, Cosima did not know what to answer. She toyed with the rings on her fingers while she waited impatiently for Delphine to continue.

“I love you,” Delphine whispered. She looked down at the doormat, chewing on her bottom lip. “I will do anything to save you.”

Looking up at Delphine’s face, Cosima’s resolve softened a little. She took a small step forward and said, “I know that, but this is not the way.” Tilting her head, Cosima waited for Delphine to look her in the eyes. “Let me make my own decisions.”

Delphine nodded. She took a deep breath, and bit her bottom lip again. Cosima saw that it was raw, and there were small tears in it. 

“Does Rachel know you’re here?” Cosima asked. She did not want to think about Delphine hurting, she did not want to forgive the monitor yet.

Relaxing a little, Delphine nodded. “Yes, but she doesn’t want you to go back that basement.”

“No?”

“No, she would rather you come in for treatment voluntarily,” Delphine explained.

Cosima scoffed. Of course Rachel wanted her to come in, and probably never come back out again. Delphine was so incredibly naïve if she thought that she had any substantial power at the institute.

“I will make sure it’s safe, Cosima,” Delphine said. She lifted her hand, unconsciously reaching out to Cosima. “And I’ll be there the whole time. You have my word that you can walk away from there, healthier. Please?”

Cosima took a step back. Delphine’s presumption that Cosima would simply allow her to make these decisions for here were angering her again, especially when Delphine was asking a seven year old to donate bone marrow for her. “You just needed Kira’s bone marrow?” Cosima asked, loud, too loud.

“Cosima, be reasonable. You’re sick.”

“You be reasonable,” Cosima retorted. “Think of what you’re asking me. I can’t go back there, even if you had a cure, which you don’t.”

“But…” Delphine started to say, but stopped quickly. She looked past Cosima, up the stairs.

Kira was standing halfway the stairs in her pink pyjamas. She had her monkey tucked under her am, and was holding the banister with the other. Slowly, she took a few more steps down the stairs, until she was standing at eye-level with Cosima, who had turned around to see her.

“Oh no, monkey,” Cosima said. She was about to tell the child to return to bed when Sarah burst back into the hallway. There was no door between the kitchen and the hallway after all, and thus there was no doubt Sarah and Siobhan had followed their conversation word for word.

“Shit,” Sarah said when she saw her daughter on the stairs. “Go back to bed, Kira.”

“Is auntie Cosima okay?”

“I’m fine monkey,” Cosima said. The loud cough that came only seconds later disputed that claim.

Delphine shook her head and held a clean tissue out for Cosima to take. “No you’re not.”

Cosima took the tissue, but rolled her eyes. She knew, but there was no point in scaring a young child.

“Can I fix you?” Kira asked Cosima. She looked up at her aunt with big brown eyes, peeking from behind her messy bed hair.

Cosima stared at the child, and then at Sarah and Siobhan. They both seemed as confused as Cosima was. “What?”

“I heard auntie Delphine say I can help,” Kira explained.

“Oh, Kira. It’s complicated, monkey,” Sarah said. She walked over to join Cosima at the bottom of the stairs. Sarah sat down, motioning for Kira to join her. When her daughter was sitting next to her, Sarah said, “Auntie Cosima is sick.”

“I know,” Kira said.

Suddenly, Cosima realized what Sarah was about to do. “Don’t do this to her, Sarah.” It was bad enough to ask Sarah for her daughter’s bone marrow, but to ask a seven-year-old child to make that decision was somehow much worse.

Delphine, whose face lit up at Cosima’s comment, obviously understood Sarah’s intent as well, said, “It might be her only chance.”

Sarah nodded at Delphine’s comment, and turned back towards her daughter. “Kira?”

The child, obviously confused by what was going on, waited impatiently for an explanation.

“At the end of the day, it’s not Sarah’s decision.” Siobhan set the shotgun aside, and leaned against the wall. She spoke to Cosima and Delphine, with a serious frown. “It’s not any of ours,” Siobhan told the women.

“How can I make you better, Cosima?” Kira asked. With her big brown eyes, and her stuffed monkey on her lap, she appeared so innocent and genuine.

Cosima swallowed a lump in her throat. She could not ask a child to save her life like that, and definitely not if said child was staring at her like that.

Sarah however, seemed not to have such an issue with asking. “She needs something from you. Uhm, something called bone marrow.” Sarah poked Kira’s hip softly, and smiled encouragingly at her. “They take it out of your hip, but they have to use a big needle,” she said.

“I don’t like needles.”

Delphine kneeled in front of Kira. “Of course, but they put you to sleep, you won’t feel anything,” she said.

Siobhan took a step forward as well. “You don’t have to feel bad, Love, if you don’t want to do it,” she said.

Kira looked past all the people crowding around her at Cosima, who had taken a step back. “Will you die?” she asked.

The lump in Cosima’s throat broke free. She breathed heavily, and tried without succeeding to keep the tears inside her eyes. She forcefully pressed her tongue against the roof of her mouth hoping that the trick would help her keep from breaking down in tears.

“She’s not doing so well,” Delphine said. She looked up at Cosima standing behind her and added, “She might.”

Kira thought for a moment. “Then, okay.”

Sarah let out an odd sob, and wrapped her in a tight hug. “Oh, God. You’re the bravest thing I know.”

Next to the stairs, Siobhan shook her head disapprovingly and left for the kitchen.

Delphine let out a long sigh of relief and pulled back onto her feet. She let Sarah and Kira have their moment, and took Cosima’s hand, pulling her in towards the door.

Slightly stunned by the turn of events, Cosima let herself be taken outside. On the steps just outside the door they stood still, huddled close together. Cosima could smell the cigarettes on Delphine’s breath, and her perfume on her body. Breathing deeply, Cosima wanted to hold Delphine close and never let go. The immunologist had clearly put herself in grave danger by going back to DYAD and trying to get Cosima another treatment. It was harder to forgive her for making these decisions on Cosima’s behalf. “Why didn’t you ask me first?”

Delphine squeezed Cosima’s hand. “I didn’t want you to get your hopes up,” she said. She bit her bottom lip, thinking for a moment. “And I had no idea where you were.”

Cosima nodded; it made sense. There was one downside to this plan Delphine had come up with. “I can’t go to DYAD for a treatment, nor can I allow Kira to be put at risk like that,” Cosima said.

“I will make sure it is safe,” Delphine insisted. She wiped some of her curls out of her face, and took hold of Cosima’s hands again as soon as possible. “I promise, Cosima.”

“I need to think about it.”

“Of course.” Delphine was silent for a moment. She did not look away from Cosima. A pained expression came over her previously very sober one. Chewing on her bottom lip, she leaned forward towards Cosima. _“Tu me manques.”_

“I miss you too.” Cosima had said it before she could hold the words inside.

Slowly, Delphine pressed a kiss to each of Cosima’s cheeks like she had done the day they had met. With a last lingering glance, Delphine turned around and walked away. Before she got in the backseat of a black car waiting for her, she gave Cosima a small wave.

Huddled in her sweater, Cosima returned the gesture. She then watched the car drive away. She stood there in the cold air until Siobhan finally found her several minutes later and told her to come back inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _“Tu me manques.”_ = I miss you. (Lit: You are missing from me.)


	20. Delphine +37

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter comes with a trigger warning for suicide, if you're alright with the tv-show, you'll be fine with this chapter.

With her hands in the pockets of her lab coat, Delphine walked through the basement corridors of the DYAD institute. She had just visited one of the more top-secret labs in the building to check on their progress in developing a permanent cure.

To her disappointment, they had not been very productive. Her subordinated blamed professor Duncan for not sharing his key to the synthetic sequence with them. Delphine did not care about their excuses; she needed a cure right now.

Angry and frustrated, she made her way through the maze. It was late, and most of her colleagues had left the institute to go home for the night. A constant buzzing of the air vents accompanied her heels clicking against the tiles on the floor. She checked her phone again. There was still no message from Cosima. The clone had not contacted her since that day Delphine had begged Sarah for her daughter’s bone marrow. Kira had agreed, and Delphine was relieved for that. If only Cosima would be able to trust her and come in for a treatment, it would improve her condition drastically.

Passing along the room Cosima had been held captive in for such a long time, Delphine argued with herself that she understood Cosima’s distrust of her and the institute. After all that had happened to her, Cosima had plenty of reasons not to want to return here even for a minute. 

And yet she had. When she had believed Delphine to be in danger, Cosima had rushed to the institute to make sure she wasn’t. And the way Cosima had looked at Delphine, at the doorstep of Siobhan’s home, still made Delphine weak in the knees. Perhaps there was some hope after all. If only Cosima would contact her, if only she would survive.

Delphine stuffed her phone back into the pocket of her lab coat. She quickened her step, anxious to get out of these claustrophobia inducing corridors.

She was almost at the staircase when she heard a scream to her right. Frowning, Delphine stopped in the middle of a step. She listened, and within seconds another scream followed the first one.

“What have you done?”

Delphine recognized it now as Rachel’s voice. Miss Duncan, who was always so calm and composed, was now screaming at the top of her lungs. 

Alarmed, Delphine ran towards the source of the sound. She followed the noise to one of the many secure rooms. The door was open, and from inside she could still hear Rachel repeatedly yelling the same sentence. “What have you done?”

The two guards outside of the door looked uneasy. They did not go inside, but they were looking. When they noticed Delphine, they looked relieved.

“What’s going on here?” Delphine asked them.

They shrugged simultaneously.

Shaking her head, Delphine pushed the door further open and entered.

The room was dimly lit, and coming from the brightly lit white corridor, it took Delphine’s eyes a moment to adjust to the lack of light. She noticed a hunched figure in the middle of the otherwise bare room, but did not yet recognize it.

“My poor, poor Rachel,” said the figure in the middle of the room, with the broken voice of an old man.

“No!” screamed the same figure, with Rachel’s powerful voice.

“My poor, poor Rachel,” repeated the figure.

Delphine now realized what she had first seen as one figure were actually two people. Rachel was kneeling on the floor, in front of her father on the only chair of the room, hidden half from Delphine’s view. Duncan was leaning heavy on his daughter, moving erratically. Together, they created a confusing scene.

“Why?” Rachel yelled. She had not noticed Delphine entering. She shook her father frantically. “No”

“It wo…” Duncan’s head lolled to the side, and he slid from the chair, too heavy for Rachel to hold up. “It won’t take long.”

Slowly, Delphine recovered from her shock. Her medical training took over, and she ran towards the two Duncans on the floor. She pushed Rachel aside, and quickly assessed the situation. She kneeled on the floor next to the old man, and turned him onto his back.

The professor was seizing. He seemed still conscious, but was clearly not in control of his body anymore. Delphine pressed two fingers against his neck, checking his pulse. It was uneven, and far too fast. Looking around, she tried to figure out what had happened to put the professor in such a dramatic state despite the extremely high level of security DAYD had put on him; his ability to provide a translation key, which was apparently only in his head, was vital for the creating of a cure for the clone disease.

“You can’t leave me again!” Behind Delphine, Rachel was still yelling. She did not stop, and tried to push Delphine aside. “No!”

Delphine let out a frustrated groan. “Will you shut up?” she asked Rachel irritated. It had the desired effect for a brief moment, and Delphine could finally think clearly for a second.

On the floor, Duncan had at last calmed down his fitful movements. “I’m afraid you don’t deserve me anymore,” he said, softly but clearly.

With her fingers still pressed to his neck, Delphine could feel his pulse faltering as his eyes closed. Panicked, Delphine tried to determine why Duncan was in such a bad shape, no worse, why he was dying, or already dead. Delphine’s own heart skipped a beat when she realized that if she could not save Ethan Duncan, it was also not very likely that she would be able to save Cosima. 

Delphine pushed Rachel aside again. The clone was uncharacteristically uncomposed, she was screaming and yanking on both the professor and Delphine. “Will you stop that!”

When Rachel gave Delphine just enough space, she moved to a more forgiving position, sitting on her knees and started compressions. “Get Nealon,” she told Rachel. A bit of help from another doctor might be useful right now.

Rachel shut up, and pulled her phone out of her pocket, giving Delphine the space she needed.

Delphine started her first round of chest compressions. She no longer felt a pulse, and Ethan was not breathing, if only she could keep his heart going long enough, Dr. Nealon might know what was wrong with Ethan. The spilled tea started to soak Delphine’s knees where she was kneeling, but she did not notice. 

Behind her, Rachel had finished her call, and was silently watching Delphine’s fervent attempt to save her father.

Having completely given into her medical training, Delphine automatically moved Duncan’s head in an appropriate position. She closed his nose, and opened her mouth. Without thinking she bend over him, stopping only at the last moment before her lips touched him. Frozen in her hunched position, she hesitated.

She smelled almonds, it reminded her of something. Delphine looked up at Rachel, and then at the shattered teacups, and the puddle she was sitting in. Swallowing deeply, Delphine sat up again and continued with chest compressions. Professor Duncan, the one person who held the key to the synthetic sequence had been poisoned with cyanide.

Touching his lips with her own would be a death sentence for them both. Either way, if Ethan had ingested enough cyanide to drop death within seconds, there was nothing anyone could do anyway. Desperately, Delphine did not give up. She kept manually trying to keep him alive until Dr. Nealon arrived.

“Cyanide poisoning,” Delphine told him, without stopping her labours.

Dr. Nealon looked at Rachel, and then at the scene on her floor. He kneeled next to Delphine, and checked for a pulse. Shaking his head, he ignored both women. He took a long sniff, and then shook his head. “You can quit that, he’s beyond saving. There’s way too much of that stuff.”

Rachel let out an agonizing scream.

Delphine did not stop.

“Cut it out,” Dr. Nealon took away Delphine’s hands from the old man’s chest. “There’s no point, he’s dead already.”

For a moment, Delphine struggled with him. She knew he was right, and yet she could not accept it. Then, finally, she got up. The tea dripping down her pants, she had been sitting in the worst of the spilled tea. Shaking, she left the room, ignoring Rachel’s crying, and Dr. Nealon giving orders to remove Ethan’s body from the room.

\---

Delphine scrubbed her knees gently. The skin was red and painful, but she could not see any abrasions; not enough cyanide could have entered through unharmed skin to kill her, or even make her seriously ill. She should have examined the professor’s body perhaps, but Delphine had been too upset to think of such technicalities. Either way, the smell of almonds had told doctor Cormier plenty; someone had poisoned Ethan Duncan.

Recalling Ethan’s last words to his daughter, Delphine sighed. Surely Rachel would find a way to twist the truth to her advantage, yet to Delphine it was blatantly obvious that the one who had poisoned the professor had been the professor himself.

Delphine dropped the washcloth in the sink. Slowly, she wandered through the empty apartment. As she moved through the bedroom, she put on a pair of pyjama bottoms and took off the rest of her business attire. Delphine made a mental note of properly disposing her tea and cyanide soaked pants, which were still lying on the floor.

In the kitchen Delphine poured herself several fingers of Bourbon. Standing in the dark kitchen, Delphine took a long gulp, and then refilled her glass. Holding the cold glass against her tired and pounding forehead, Delphine sat down on the couch.

The darkness was kind on her sore eyes, and her even better for her aching brain. Only a tiny bit of artificial light from the bathroom illuminated the living room, and that was fine by Delphine; she was not going to stand up to switch more lights on. Sipping slowly on her drink, Delphine tried to figure out a way to fix the mess Duncan had left her with. Without his key, it would certainly take too long for them to decipher the synthetic sequence, even if the clones’ life expectancy could be boosted with the stem cell treatment.

Delphine sighed, and put her now empty glass down. She had still not heard from Cosima. It was cold, and Delphine was tired. She would figure something out tomorrow, because surely there had to be something she could do.

Just as Delphine’s was about to fall asleep, or perhaps she was asleep already, she was startled by a loud knock on the door. It took her a moment to decide whether she wanted to get up from the comfortable couch to open. A look at her phone showed her that it was long past midnight, besides there were still guards next to her door, someone must really want to see her if they had come all this way to knock on her door.

Irritated, Delphine forced herself to get up and open the door. It was probably Rachel again, showing up with outrageous plans and ridiculous demands. Before she opened the door, Delphine turned the lights on.

“Hey, how’s it going?”

Cosima was standing in the middle of the hallway, right between the two guards. She was fidgeting with her hands, and glancing uncomfortably at the two large men. Her face was unnaturally pale, and her glasses did not hide the dark circles from Delphine.

“Wonderful,” Delphine said automatically. Of all people, Cosima had to have been the last person Delphine had expected to knock on her door in the middle of the night. “What are you doing here?”

Shivering slightly, Cosima eagerly asked, “Can I come in?”

Slowly, Delphine nodded. She stepped aside for Cosima to walk inside. As she shut the door behind the clone, she noticed one of the guards taking a phone out of his pocket. Flustered, Delphine came to realize that Cosima was in her home. In the flawless, expensive apartment DYAD rented for her, where she had slept on the couch for months, where she still had to unpack the last of her luggage. Delphine turned around to face Cosima.

She looked frail. Cosima had taken her coat off, and dumped it on the couch. She was taking the apartment in while she wandered around the living room, obviously avoiding Delphine. “I had another seizure today,” she casually mentioned, as she ran her hand over one of the nearly empty bookshelves.

Delphine nearly ran towards Cosima, only holding back at the last instant. “Are you alright?”

“No,” Cosima mumbled. She thought for a moment, before admitting, “You were right, I need that treatment.”

Delphine nodded. She ran her hand through her hair, trying to think of something to say to Cosima besides ‘I told you so.’ She longed to wrap Cosima in her arms, to kiss away the pain and suffering. 

Cosima was standing close, very close, to Delphine. “Tomorrow, you can do whatever you think is best,” she said, this time she sounded determined. Her chin held high, she was able to look Delphine in the eyes as she spoke.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” Cosima nodded. “And after, we will try to find a permanent cure, together.”

Delphine could feel the tears forming in her eyes. That cursed headache, and tiredness made it so much more difficult to control her emotions, and with Cosima finally trusting Delphine to do what was best, the immunologist could feel the walls she had so painstakingly build up again start to crumble. “Together,” she promised Cosima. Her hands gently took hold of Cosima’s face, and her thumbs softly caressed the clone’s cheeks. Delphine rested her own forehead against Cosima’s. “But first you need to live until we have this.”

Cosima nodded, bumping her glasses against Delphine’s nose. With a slightly amused smile, she said, “Siobhan has connections. Kira will be harvested in a safe place.”

“A safe place?”

“Look, even if I did think it was safe to tell you where, here,” Cosima said. She pulled back a little, and Delphine’s hands dropped from her face. She gestured at the room about her, which was surely bugged. “I don’t even know where.”

“Of course,” Delphine nodded. “What about you?”

It took Cosima a moment to understand Delphine’s question. “At DYAD, I guess.”

“That’s not safe.”

Cosima frowned. She wrapped her sweater closer around her, and sighed. “You were the one that promised it would be safe.”

Delphine hesitated. She had said that, and she had believed that. But so much had changed today, she was no longer sure if she could guarantee Cosima’s safety. “Cosima, professor Duncan died today.”

“Ethan?” When Delphine confirmed this, Cosima tilted her head. “Why?” she asked. “How?”

“It seems he poisoned himself, but I don’t understand why,” Delphine said. She took Cosima’s hands, needing some sort of gesture to convey the seriousness of the situation, as well as searching for a little comfort in Cosima’s presence.

“He was kinda bonkers, Sarah said,” Cosima thought out loud.

Delphine agreed with that; during the few times she had spoken with Ethan, always about his sequence and the making of the clones, he had been incredibly abashed, and yet when she managed to glimpse past his words and actions, there had been an ingenious brain hidden deep behind it all. “Yes, but he was brilliant. And he was your cure.”

“Shit, you’re right.” Cosima reeled slowly. She suddenly grasped what she had not seemed to understand before Delphine had said it; the professor had been her best chance for a cure, for survival.

Taking hold of Cosima a bit more firmly, Delphine said, “We will buy you some more time, and we’ll find another way to get you a permanent cure.”

“I’m too tired, Delphine.” Cosima leaned forward, burying her face in Delphine’s shoulder. Her hands slid around the taller woman’s waist, holding her tight. She sighed into Delphine’s skin, leaning heavily on her.

Instinctively, Delphine wrapped her arms around Cosima. “It’s late, no?”

“No, I mean, I’m tired. Of this, of fighting,” Cosima mumbled against Delphine’s shoulder.

“You don’t have to do it alone,” Delphine said. She stroked Cosima’s back, and pressed a soft kiss to the bare skin of Cosima’s neck exposed to her.

Cosima pulled back a little, but did not take her hands off Delphine. “I’m so tired,” she repeated with a long sigh.

Delphine bit her lip, contemplating what to do. Perhaps it would be easier to figure out in the light of the morning, when her headache had subsided, and perhaps Cosima was a little less tired. She took Cosima’s hands from her hips, and gently tugged her towards the bedroom door. Standing next to the bed, Delphine let go of Cosima, giving her the chance to protest.

With another sigh, Cosima simply took off her shoes and pants. She slipped her sweater off and set her glasses down, and crawled under the comforter, immediately closing her eyes.

Looking at the frail woman in the bed, Delphine hesitated again. She wanted to join Cosima, to hold her tight and tell her everything would be fine, but maybe it would be safer if she just slept on the couch again tonight.

“Delphine,” Cosima whispered. She stretched her arms out towards Delphine, begging her to join her.

Quickly, Delphine obliged and curled up next to Cosima. She gathered the small body in her arms, warming her instantly. Cosima buried her face against Delphine’s chest, breathing slowly.

Delphine kissed Cosima’s scalp, and then pressed her cheek to the scratchy dreadlocks. It felt safe, and it felt comfortable. Breathing in Cosima’s scent, Delphine could feel her body finally start to relax. Tonight she would sleep, and perhaps her dreams would bring her some wisdom on how to help the love in her arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Cyanide:_ is a highly poisonous natural compound, often used to poison people or commit suicide. Its taste is bitter, and it tends to smell of almonds. Naturally it can be found in apple seeds, beans, and similar places, and it’s often found in plastics or cigarettes. It kills by blocking red blood cells from using oxygen, causing chemical strangulation.  
>  Based on the way professor Duncan drops dead within seconds after drinking his tea, I assumed that he killed himself with cyanide (I don’t believe this is confirmed?). Only a tenth of a gram is enough for an adult man to drop dead.   
> Smaller portions can kill a person over a longer period of time, and it’s even toxic enough to kill a person by inhalation of the gas, or by touch if the skin has even small wounds. Minor, non-lethal poisoning shows symptoms such as nausea, headaches, dizziness, and convulsions.


	21. Cosima +38

A tender hand stroked along Cosima’s spine, softly touching her bare skin halfway her back where her shirt had ridden up her torso during the night, and moving up again. Cosima closed her eyes a little tighter, and snuggled a little closer to the warm body beside her. The smell of Delphine and the freshly made bed slowly woke Cosima up.

Still unwilling to open her eyes, Cosima sneaked one of her arms from underneath the warm blankets, and stroked Delphine’s hair. It felt surreally familiar; the way the individual strands parted easily to the touch of her fingers, and the way the curls bounced back against the palm of her hand. Cosima softly kissed Delphine’s bare neck at the point where her lips already touched the skin.

“Good morning,” Delphine said. She moved a little, almost sitting upright.

Cosima sighed, and pulled Delphine back under the covers. She was not yet ready to wake up.

“Cosima, I have work.”

For the first time this morning, Cosima spoke. “You’re the boss, aren’t you?” Speaking out loud made it so much more real; they were in bed, together. They had spent the night, together. And after Cosima given Delphine her trust to save her, the simple act of falling asleep in each other’s arms, as they had done a hundred times before, had only worked to reinforce that trust.

“Yes, but I have to set an example, _non?_ ” Delphine said. Her hand was still running back and forth across Cosima’s back.

“Please stay a little longer,” Cosima begged. She pulled Delphine a little closer.

Delphine moaned an unintelligible protest, yet gave in within seconds. “Okay,” she whispered.

Without more words, they both slid back a little further under the warm covers. Cosima wrapped her legs around Delphine, and sighed contently. For a few minutes, they lay together in silence.

“Cosima?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry,” Delphine said.

For the first time this morning, Cosima opened her eyes. From up close, she saw the freckles on Delphine’s skin, and the tiny hairs behind her ear. Slowly, she lifted her head, looking closely at Delphine’s face. “So am I,” Cosima said, when she met Delphine’s genuinely apologetic expressioin with her own. “No more making these important decisions without me, okay?”

“I promise,” Delphine said. She brushed her fingertips along Cosima’s lips, before moving slightly leaning towards her.

Cosima met her halfway, kissing Delphine slowly and unhurriedly. Together, they sank back into the pillows, kissing deeply. It was not until Cosima ran out of oxygen, that they stopped.

Delphine gave Cosima a worried frown, but Cosima smiled at her as she recovered her breath. She gave Delphine a quick peck on her lips, before sitting up. Reluctantly, Cosima left the warm and safe bed in exchange for the cold room. Somewhat shivering, she pulled her clothes on.

Behind her, Delphine had left the bed for the bathroom, leaving Cosima to wander around the expensive apartment by herself for a while.

And so the clone had a look at the place Delphine had been living since they moved from San Francisco. The bedroom seemed almost completely uninhabited, and the living room was not much better. There were no books on the shelves, no plants in the window, no photos on the walls, nor any personal items around the room. On the floor next to the couch Cosima noticed piles of papers, on the dinner table Cosima saw stacks of papers, and spread across the kitchen counters Cosima spotted even more papers.

She picked up a few of the closest papers, and skimmed over them. They were lab results of a clone with a tag-number Cosima did not recognize. She dropped them back on the kitchen counter, and skimmed over the rest of the documents. There were lab analyses, immunology papers, endless calculations in Delphine’s illegible handwriting, and many more things Cosima could not even recognize or comprehend.

“Are you okay?”

Cosima spun around at the sudden voice behind her. “Yeah,” she said. “I’m okay.” She felt surprisingly well rested. Still tired deep into her bones of fighting her own body, and mentally exhausted, and yet, somehow well rested of her first uninterrupted night of deep sleep in a long time.

Delphine nodded. She had showered and pinned her curls into a loose bun. She was wearing a suit that looked like it had cost more than the quarterly rent of their apartment in San Francisco. Delphine leaned on the doorframe, chewing her lip as she thought about something.

“Are you okay,” Cosima asked.

“Huh,” Delphine appeared genuinely surprised Cosima asked. “ _Oui,_ yes. I’m fine.”

Cosima sat down at the table. She was not sure of what to do, it seemed odd to wake up, and get ready for work again together with Delphine. The job was different, and technically Cosima would not be working. Nevertheless, Delphine looked very sharp in the suit, and Cosima felt a spark of hope.

Slowly, Delphine started to gather a few things around the kitchen. “I’d offer you breakfast, but it might be better if you don’t have any,” she told Cosima.

“I thought breakfast was the most important meal of the day?” Cosima leaned back in her chair.

Delphine gave the clone a stern look. “It is. But you need to be sober for that procedure. If you don’t have breakfast, we can do it this morning,” she explained. “That is if we have Kira’s stem cells,” she added, a bit insecure. With a cup of tea, and a bowl with her breakfast, she sat down opposite of Cosima.

“I can call Sarah,” Cosima offered.

Delphine nodded. She took a bite of her breakfast as Cosima dialled Sarah’s number.

\---

Cosima’s stomach turned. She had been feeling slightly queasy for days now, but riding a car with a completely empty stomach reminded her of road-trips with her parents as a young child, with an overlapping theme of carsickness. She swallowed, and glanced at Delphine.

Delphine ran her hand across the backseat taking Cosima’s hand in her own and clasping it tightly. She was quiet; they were not alone after all. 

The chauffeur seemed to be paying close attention to the road, but the guy next to him was looking in the mirror, not even hiding the fact that he was watching the two women in the backseat. His posture was relaxed, but his face was stiff. Cosima wondered if these guys surrounded Delphine all day, every day. Why would Delphine even want to be followed around all day? It seemed quite unnerving to Cosima to have these unfriendly looking men so close by all the time. Apparently they even stayed outside Delphine’s home all night. Luckily they had not stopped Cosima from entering last night.

Cosima ran her thumb over the dorsum of Delphine’s hand. Despite her powerful outfit, Delphine appeared small to Cosima, hunched in the back of the car and clinging onto the clone. Cosima suddenly saw that the men “protecting” Delphine had never been there to protect the Delphine; they were watching the watcher.

Hit with the sudden realisation, Cosima let out a long sigh. She could not discus it with Delphine; not here, not now. Delphine was just as much a prisoner as the clone had been, as she was right now as well. Yet, as opposed to the sick clone, Delphine was not gaining anything by submitting to DYAD.

The car stopped in front of the familiar building. Their chauffeur held the door open, and both Delphine and Cosima got out. The guard followed them into the building, always just one step behind her.

They were greeted by a small delegation, headed by Rachel. “Hello again, Cosima,” she said, stiffly greeting her sister. She was clearly not at all surprised to see her clone walking into her institute; she had been waiting for them. 

Delphine nodded very stiffly, not saying anything. She as well was not even remotely surprised that Rachel had been waiting for them.

“Yo, Rachel,” Cosima greeted her corporate sister. The look of aggravation on Rachel’s face caused by the informal greeting gave Cosima great satisfaction. She smiled sweetly at her identical face a few feet in front of her.

The face did not smile back. Rachel stiffly looked down on Cosima. Despite the fact that they were exactly the same height, Rachel made Cosima feel small.

Almost unconsciously, Cosima moved to stand a little closer to Delphine.

“Good morning Miss. Duncan.” Delphine finally greeted Rachel. “How are you today?” she asked very formally. 

“I’m fine, thank you,” Rachel said. She hardly glanced at Delphine, and condescendingly continued, “We’re not here to discuss my well-being, are we?”

Cosima gasped, she gestured wildly, almost knocking into Delphine. “We’re not? So you’re not coughing up blood yet?” She was discovering a new favourite activity; annoying Rachel.

Rachel blinked slowly. She was about to say something, probably a crude remark, when Delphine interjected.

“We’re not here to discuss anyone’s well-being, were here to make sure each of you is well.”

Both clones looked up at her, and nodded in unison. Slightly insecure, Cosima wished they would at least leave the large hall for a more private room. Maybe somewhere she could sit down, her back was starting to hurt and her feet were tired. She was just about to suggest that they move to an office, when the guard tapped on Delphine’s shoulder.

“Dr. Cormier, you have a visitor,” he said.

The three women turned around, trying to see who just walked in.

Cosima was the first to recognize him. “Hey, Art,” she greeted the detective. Of all people in Toronto, he had been the last she had expected to run into at the DYAD institute. “What are you doing here?”

Accompanied by two guards, Sarah joined them. “He’s with me.”

“Hey, Sarah,” Cosima enthusiastically wrapped her arms around her sister. At least Sarah had the guts to play at the game the other two women were playing right now. Despite the fact that she knew Delphine was on her side, Cosima felt utterly lost between Delphine and Rachel. Sarah was here to rescue her from the politics that went over her head, and to bring her her treatment. Which Cosima did not see, Sarah was just wearing a light jacket, not carrying a bag, neither was Art. “Do you have the stuff?”

Sarah shook her head. “No, the stuff is still to be harvested,” she told Cosima, stuffing her hands in her pockets. Addressing Delphine, she said, “Due to reasons, and we also want you there.”

“Me?” Delphine asked. “Why me?”

Sarah raised an eyebrow. “You asked for it, right?”

Art stepped up, and calmly explained what Sarah was so reluctant to say. “It’s for safety reasons. We have it figured out, no worries. You will go with Sarah to harvest Kira, and I’ll stay with Cosima until you return.”

“Actually, Miss. Niehaus is behind on several check-ups,” Rachel challenged Art. “Dr. Nealon has expressed his wish to perform a full medical check-up before the procedure, for safety reasons.”

“Of course he has,” Cosima said. She rolled her eyes, shivering slightly at the mention of the unkind doctor who had examined her several times during her time in the basement. Cosima had hoped she would never have to see him again.

Delphine apparently had a different opinion. “That’s a good idea,” she said, nodding visibly enthusiastic.

“You sure about that?” Sarah said.

Delphine nodded at Sarah. “Yes, I was going to do it myself, but Dr. Nealon is a very competent doctor,” she told the clone. “Just, please, don’t leave her out of your sight, please,” she continued; now talking to the detective.

“No worries, I’ll hold her hand throughout the entire time.”

Both Delphine and Cosima smiled at the slightly sarcastic, yet very well meant promise. Cosima had no doubt that she was safe as long as Art would be there, to hold her hand.

“Brilliant,” Sarah impatiently said. “Let’s go then,” she motioned for Delphine to follow her, quickly waving goodbye to Cosima and Art.

Rachel spoke before Delphine could. “I took the liberty of having a kit prepared for you,” she said, with an uncharacteristically kind smile. She motioned for one of her henchmen standing behind her.

He held out a medical case for Delphine to take. 

Cosima frowned, for a second she wondered how Rachel had known about that Delphine would need the medical supplies to carry stem cells safely from one location to another. Then she realized that Delphine’s apartment must really be bugged, to the point where Rachel had overheard Cosima’s conversation with Sarah on the phone this morning. Cosima raised an eyebrow at Sarah, a silent warning passed between them.

 _“Merci,”_ Delphine said, unsure of what to think. She walked back to Cosima with the suitcase, and very quickly kissed Cosima.

Stunned, Cosima stared up at Delphine as they parted. She had missed that, she had wanted to do that again and again ever since the brief kiss they shared this morning, but for Delphine to kiss her in the middle of the foyer of the institute, right in front of Rachel, that was beyond what Cosima could have hoped for.

Sarah however found this sappy display of loyalty a bit too much. “You’ve got to be bloody kidding me!” she groaned, and rolled her eyes.

Cosima grinned at her sister, completely ignoring Rachel.

“You come with me, and you stay with Art,” Sarah told the two women. Then she solemnly addressed Cosima for a moment, “Stay alive until we get back.”

“I’ll try.”

“Don’t worry about your sister, Sarah. We’ll take good care of her,” Rachel promised. 

Sarah shook her head. “Yeah, like the previous time she was here.” Of course Sarah was still unaware of the short trip Cosima had taken to find Delphine a little more than a week ago. Sarah mumbled something under her breath, and dragged Delphine with her towards the exit.

Delphine glanced over her shoulder as half ran to keep up with Sarah. “I’ll be back before you know it,” she promised. She was fumbling with the suitcase, and her own bag filled to the brim with files. Yet, she never once stumbled in those high heels.

Cosima nodded.


	22. Delphine +38

Her hands were on top of the lock of the suitcase containing Cosima’s gene therapy. The rest of the case was clutched between her knees, so that nobody could take it from her without her noticing. The car jolted around, and Delphine was pulled against her seatbelt. She clasped the suitcase a bit tighter, and chewed on her lip; there was not much else she could do.

After a ride that seemed like it would never end, the car stopped so gently that it took Delphine a moment to realize that they were no longer moving. “Your stop, Dr. Cormier,” said the chauffeur.

“Thank you,” Delphine said cautiously. She fumbled with her seatbelt, not wanting to move too much, or let go of the precious suitcase.

The man laughed. “You can take of that blindfold now,” he said, Delphine could almost hear his amusement at her awkwardness. She felt the car jolt as he got out of the driver’s seat.

“Thank you,” she said, though she was not sure if he could still hear her. She quickly took the blindfold off. The bright noon light had her blinking for a moment as she got adjusted to it. 

The man, who had so kindly given her a ride back to the institute, Benjamin was his name Delphine recalled, opened her door for her. Again, Delphine fumbled with her seatbelt, this time however it was much easier since she could actually see what she was doing. Before getting out of the car, she handed Benjamin the blindfold.

He took it with a stern nod. The man slightly terrified Delphine, after his threat to her in the hallway of Felix’s home Delphine never doubted that this Benjamin was not just a chauffeur and a handy man to Siobhan, he was surely capable of much more terrifying things. She just didn’t know what exactly he would do to her, and it unsettled her.

She scrambled out of the car, clutching the suitcase tightly. In the cold outside air, she took a deep breath. Delphine could not wait to go to Cosima and give her this treatment, which would give her a bit more time, hopefully.

“Good luck,” Benjamin said, as he handed Delphine her purse.

Delphine smiled at him as she took the offered bag. “Thank you,” she said. And after a moment of fumbling with everything she had to hold, she added, “Have a safe trip home,”

He nodded at her, and got back into the car.

Without looking back at the car driving away, Delphine almost ran inside. The lobby was crowded; there would be some promotional event tonight. Meandering between the people setting up tables, and someone hanging up posters, Delphine managed to reach the elevators without bumping into anyone.

Impatiently, she ran her hands along the edge of the suitcase. The tiny elevator was full of people, and it took her far too long to reach the pre-ultimate floor where she needed to get out.

Her heels tapped loudly against the floor, as the quickly made her way towards the patient examination room. She knocked before scanning her employee card to get into the room.

Art had obviously been talking before Delphine had entered, but he held his mouth as soon as she opened the door.

Cosima was fully dressed, toying with a stethoscope in one of the office chairs. 

Simultaneously, Art and Cosima looked up as Delphine entered, both relaxing when they recognized Delphine. Neither spoke.

Delphine frowned. Silently, she set the suitcase down on the table. She took off her coat, and hung it on the hook next to the door. Then, she sat down on the last chair, behind the desk where the doctor would sit during a consultation. 

Of course, this was no hospital, and there was hardly ever a regular visitation with a doctor, these rooms were but a front, a cover for whenever people visited them, DYAD had ulterior motives. Why Nealon had chosen to examine Cosima in this room, Delphine did not know. She assumed because it would be friendlier than one of the rooms in the basement, and not as informative as one of the working laboratories would be.

“Good afternoon,” Delphine said to both Cosima and Arthur when she sat down. “How are you?” she asked Cosima.

“Thoroughly probed and poked,” Cosima said, with a familiar grin. She did not seem very unnerved by her return to DYAD. Below the surface though, Delphine noticed that her seemingly relaxed posture was a cover for the tense clone. Cosima toyed with her rings, and her mouth was unusually stern.

Delphine unlocked the tablet lying on the table. She skimmed through the test results, and once her suspicions about Cosima’s dire condition were thoroughly confirmed, she asked, “Where is Dr. Nealon?”

“He went to do other stuff, like prepping an OR. We told him we didn’t mind waiting for you here.” Cosima shifted uncomfortably in her seat and shrugged. “He didn’t seem to mind much.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Art looked tired. He frowned, and bluntly changed the subject. “You got the stuff doc?”

Delphine nodded. She tapped her fingers on the suitcase. “I do,” she said.

“Awesome.” Cosima immediately sat up straight. Then she frowned. “How’s Kira?”

“I didn’t see her,” Delphine admitted. Again, she ran her hand over the suitcase. “But Sarah told me she’s well.”

Cosima frowned. She leaned towards Delphine. “You didn’t see Kira? I thought you were going to harvest her?” She looked confused between Delphine and Art.

Delphine nodded solemnly. “I thought so too. But Siobhan had it done days ago, and one of her contacts made you a gene therapy already.” 

“Huh,” Cosima was as confused as Delphine had been a few hours ago when she had learned this from Siobhan. “I thought we’d do that together,” Cosima mumbled.

“So did I. But it takes days if not weeks to develop a gene therapy,” Delphine said, even though Cosima already knew this. It was Art, who was sitting on the edge of his seat, with a confused and slightly threatening expression. “The only reason they could do it so rapidly was because we had already done it before, and we knew it would be a match,” Delphine explained.

Art obviously did not think this was an adequate explanation. “How do we know this contact did it correctly?”

Cosima coughed.

Delphine glanced at Cosima, and handed her a tissue. When Cosima indicated that she was all right, and was breathing normally, Delphine asked Art. “Why do you think I stayed away for this long?” Part of the reason she had been away from Cosima for hours was the time spent trying talking with the strange doctor and Siobhan, asking a thousand questions and running several tests. Granted, the blindfolded car drives back and forth to the mysterious location had been very long as well, and had probably wasted half her time driving in circles. “I had to make sure,” Delphine said.

Cosima was satisfied. Or possibly too tired of a long day filled with examinations. “Okay, awesome. Let’s get this over with then, I can’t wait to get out of here,” she said, and started to get up from her chair.

Art grabbed her wrist, stopping her from getting up all the way. “Not so fast, this doesn’t add up,” he said, not taking his eyes off Delphine. “Why didn’t they give you the stem cells, instead of going through all this trouble to make a… A therapy,” he hesitated for a moment, unsure about the correct scientific terms.

Delphine nodded encouragingly, she was glad that the detective was so protective of Cosima, and trying to understand. She wanted to get this over with, and secretly she wanted to just tell him to shut up, but he meant well, and simply answering his concerns would be more effective, she knew.

“A therapy on their own?” Art continued, voicing the same concerns that Delphine had had earlier. “That has to be complicated, and you have plenty of resources here. As we have seen today,” he motioned vaguely around him, at the building.

Cosima had been staring intently at Art while he had been speaking; now she turned to face Delphine, raising an eyebrow at the question.

Slightly unsettled by Cosima’s challenging expression, which Delphine knew to be a bad sign, Delphine hesitated before she answered. “Because…” Delphine started, and trailed off again. She looked down at the suitcase, thinking for a moment, which was easier if she did not see the bespectacled clone staring at her. “Because Sarah is afraid DYAD will use her daughter’s stem cells for more experiments, or worse, for a fresh batch of clones,” she said, facing Cosima only after she had finished her sentence. She chewed on her lip, waiting. 

Cosima nodded. “When they made a treatment they removed some of the genetic material, and that made it totally unfit for anything but curing me,” she told Art.

“Right. I get it,” Art said. He obviously did not get it, but he seemed satisfied enough with Cosima understanding it.

Each of them retreated into their own thoughts for a while. Cosima stared at the suitcase; she was toying with the stethoscope in her hands. 

Art was frowning deeply, as he ran his hands over his head and groaned almost silently. 

Delphine perused the results of Dr. Nealon’s exam again. Then, when she could find no objections to continue with the treatment as planned, she picked up the suitcase and stood up. “Are you ready?”

Cosima sighed. “As ready as I’ll ever be,” she said, and pushed herself out of the chair.

“ _Bien,_ let’s go then,” Delphine said, more optimistic than she really felt. “Follow me.”

Cosima followed close behind Delphine, and Art walked beside her. They did not talk, as Delphine guided them towards a patient room. 

“Hello again,” Dr. Nealon said. He had been waiting for them.

“Hi,” Cosima mumbled. She was still carrying the stethoscope, seemingly a bit awkward with the medical tool that did not belong to her.

“Good afternoon,” Delphine told Nealon politely. She held the suitcase in front of her, as close to her own body as possible.

Nealon clearly noticed her wariness, but did not comment on it. Instead, he addressed Cosima. “We’re all ready for you, the anaesthetist is waiting for you. You can change out of your clothes,” he said, and gestured at a patient gown for Cosima to put on. “We’ll be in the OR.”

“Awesome,” Cosima said. She did not appear to be as enthusiastic as her comment made believe. “Thanks.”

“You can wait outside, there’s a break room down the hall,” Dr. Nealon told Art.

“I won’t leave her alone,” the detective told the doctor circumspectly. He edged a little closer to Cosima, folding his arms.

“She’s not alone,” Dr. Nealon said.

Cosima agreed with Nealon. She looked up at the two men and said, “Delphine’s here; it’s okay Art.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, it’s fine,” Cosima gently told Art, and smiled. “I’ll be fine.”

Art reluctantly agreed, “Okay, I’ll go have a cup of coffee then.” However, he did not move a single centimetre from Cosima’s side.

“I’ll show you where,” Dr. Nealon said. He gestured for the detective to precede him.

Hesitantly, Art said goodbye to Cosima, and nodded at Delphine. He left the room, followed by a confident Dr. Nealon. The latter shut the door behind him, leaving Cosima and Delphine alone in the cluttered room.

“Uhm,” Delphine took a step back. “I’ll wait outside,” she said.

Cosima ran her hand through her dreadlocks, thinking for a moment before she spoke. “Don’t be silly,” she finally said. “I’d rather you stay.”

Delphine smiled. She sat down on the patient bed, and set the suitcase down next to her. Her hand still rested on it, as she wordlessly waited for Cosima.

Cosima started to undress. “Please tell me you’ll be the one administering the treatment,” she said, as she pulled her boots off her feet.

“If you want,” Delphine answered. “If you don’t, I’m sure Dr. Nealon wouldn’t mind doing it you prefer.”

“No!” Cosima almost yelled. She pulled her tank top over her head, dropping it on the chair with her sweater. For a moment, she stopped to meet Delphine’s look. “Really, I’d rather you do it,” she said, and unhooked her bra.

Delphine looked away with a smile. “Okay,” she mumbled. Then she realized that if she were the one to operate on Cosima, she’d need to change out of her high heels and elegant loose-sleeved blouse. “I need to change too.” She picked the suitcase up again, and walked over to one of the dressers. Inside, after pulling a few drawers open, she found a pair of fitting scrubs.

Cosima fastened the last of the patient gown, and sat down where Delphine had just been sitting on the bed. She watched Delphine take her outer clothes off, and then pull on the scrubs and tie her hair back. When Delphine finally seemed finished, Cosima let out an impatient, “Yeah?”

“Yes,” Delphine answered; she was ready to go. “Or do you need a moment?”

“Nope, I’m fine,” Cosima hopped off the bed, walking barefoot towards the door. “I would like to get out of this place as soon as possible.”

“I understand.” Delphine followed her with the suitcase. She held the door open for Cosima. “But you’ll have to come back again; this is no final cure, Cosima. It’ll only buy you a little time.”

“Yeah.” Cosima rolled her eyes. She was putting her dreads up in a bun, and covered it with a cap. “I know that,” she mumbled, as they walked into the operating room. 

There were a couple of nurses preparing the last of the room for the procedure. The anaesthetist was talking to Dr. Nealon. None of them reacted at the two women entering the room.

Delphine led Cosima to the operating table, and helped her lie down. While the rest of the room was still preoccupied with other things, Delphine ran her hand across the clone’s cheek. She kissed her, and rested her forehead to Cosima’s. The smell of antiseptic already overpowered Cosima’s perfume. They rested together for a moment, until Nealon cleared his throat.

“I’ll go prepare this,” Delphine said, pulling back. She held up the suitcase for Cosima and Nealon to see. 

Dr. Nealon nodded, and left to prepare himself for the impending procedure.

Cosima gave Delphine cheerful wave, and a big grin. She was clearly still tense; she toyed with the hem of her gown as she watched Delphine leave for the lab with the medical suitcase containing her procedure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There won’t be a chapter next week, I’m sorry. I’ll try my very best to deliver the Thursday after that. In the mean time, have a look at [A Cophine Fairy Tale](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8867710/chapters/20329636).


	23. Cosima +38

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for having been unable to post last week, it wasn't my intention to make you wait for two weeks. My sincerest apologies, I hope at least this chapter will make up for it.

“Cosima.”

Cosima ignored Delphine calling her name; she had been waiting forever for the doctor. Instead, she continued to read one of the medical journals from five years ago. It had been lying on the table next to the bed when she had woken up from her anaesthesia, and she had passed the time since trying, but unable, to read it.

Slightly disoriented, Cosima had awoken almost two hours ago. Delphine had been nowhere to be found, and Cosima had been slightly disappointed. A nurse had come in, and done a full check-up. She had helped Cosima get out of bed, and get moving. Cosima had eaten a little, but she had no clothes besides the flimsy patient gown. So she had spent most of her time sitting wrapped in a blanket in the chair reading. She had a blasting headache, and nothing of what she was reading actually made it to her brain.

Delphine persisted, “Cosima, please.”

“What?” Cosima groaned. She was slightly mad at Delphine, for the doctor had promised to stay with her during the entire treatment. And having to wake up in a clinical room with a locked door all by herself, again, terrified Cosima.

“Cosima, are you okay?” Delphine asked. She dropped something she had been holding on the bed.

Rolling her eyes, Cosima pretended to still be reading. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Delphine was now standing in front of her, blocking most of the light. “You need to get up.”

“Why?”

Delphine kneeled in front of her, setting her hands down on either side of Cosima. “Cosima, please look at me.”

“Shit,” Cosima finally gave in. She looked up from her article.

The immunologist looked stunning, she was wearing a long dress and had her hair pinned up in a bun, exposing her bare neck in a way that made Cosima forget she had ever been mad at her all. Yet, the look in Delphine’s eyes was one of worry. She was chewing her lip, ruining her lipstick in the progress.

“What’s wrong?” Cosima asked. She put away the journal, and sat up straight.

“You need to get up, _ma chérie._ ”

“I’m dizzy,” Cosima complained. “And tired.”

Delphine nodded. “I know.” She brushed the dreadlocks out of Cosima’s face, resting her hand on the clone’s cheek for a moment. The immunologist looked into Cosima’s eyes, and sighed deeply. Then, with an intensity Cosima had never seen before in Delphine’s eyes, she said, “Cosima, Rachel is up to something, you cannot stay here.”

“Up to something?”

“Yes,” Delphine answered. She got up from her kneeling position on the floor, and pulled the blanket from Cosima. From her bag on the bed she retrieved a pile of clothes, and a pair of stilettos. “Put these on,” Delphine said. She laid the clothes on Cosima’s lap and took a step back.

Ignoring the clothes, Cosima asked, “Up to what?”

“I’ll tell you in a moment, let’s get you to a safe place first.”

Cosima groaned. There was no arguing with Delphine. And the doctor would not force her to get up and running so quickly after even a minor medical procedure if not absolutely necessary. Still dizzy, Cosima set aside the clothes and got up from the chair. She pulled the patient gown off, and grabbed the clothes Delphine had given her. After inspecting the dress closely, she said, “Delphine.”

Upon hearing her name, Delphine stopped pacing and looked at Cosima. “Yes?”

“These are Rachel’s clothes.”

“Yes.” Delphine chewed on her bottom lip, looking more and more impatient.

Cosima scratched her dreadlocks, and waved the stiff white dress at Delphine. “Why do I need to put her clothes on?”

“So they won’t stop you from leaving,” Delphine said, as she walked back to Cosima at the chair. She sat down on the edge of the table next to it, frowning deeply. “There are guards everywhere, and all the doors are locked, Cosima. The only way out is through the front door, without them recognizing you.”

Cosima laughed out loud. It was a ridiculous plan; it had to be a sick joke. One glance at the immunologists face told her it was not a joke. “Come on, nobody will fall for that; I suck at accents,” Cosima said, while she put the underwear on.

“You don’t need to talk to anyone, just walk across the lobby and outside. Look straight ahead, that’s all.”

“I don’t know,” Cosima mumbled; as she sat down to pull the pantyhose on. It took her a few minutes to adjust what felt like real silk in such a way that it did not completely cut off her circulation. Once she had finished her struggle with the pantyhose, Cosima leaned on the bed, staring at Delphine, while she gave her tired limbs a moment of rest. “What about my dreads?”

Delphine leaned over the edge of the bed, pulling out a large hat. It matched the dress, but looked as opposed possible to anything Cosima had even worn before.

“Wow, okay.” Cosima was taken aback by the ridiculousness of the hat, unsure of how else to respond. “Do you really think that will work?”

“It’s the best we got.”

Cosima understood Delphine was right. She stared at the hat for a moment, and wondered what her friends back in San Francisco would say if they saw her in that hat, with the matching dress. Or Sarah. Or any one of her clone sisters. “And what if Rachel shows up? Cosima asked, while she carefully pulled the dress over her head.

“She will be a little late tonight,” Delphine said, as she fastened the buttons on the back of the dress.

Impatiently, Cosima held her hair up for Delphine to be able to reach the top buttons. “Late?” she asked, and spun around to see Delphine’s sincere expression. “Delphine, you’re scaring me.” 

“You should be,” Delphine answered immediately. “I’m sorry, I just want you somewhere they can’t reach you.”

Slowly, Cosima frowned. “Okay,” she said after a moment of consideration. After all Delphine’s insistence that DYAD was safe enough for Cosima to be treated, something must have happened in the past two or three hours since Cosima had lost consciousness.

With heavy movements, Cosima pulled her dreadlocks in a bun. With Delphine’s help, she managed to get the hat onto her head. Through all the hair, it was a tight fit, and looked even worse, but it worked and hid the worst of her hair. Finally, Cosima put the heels on her feet. They fit perfectly, but were much higher than Cosima was used to, she would be a bit unstable even on a good day. A little wobbly, she stood up.

As soon as she saw Cosima standing, Delphine jumped up from her seat. “Ready?”

Cosima shook her head. “These sleeves,” she said, showing her bare arms to Delphine. The dress had no sleeves at all. “Didn’t you have anything that covers my tats?”

“No, it was the only thing I could find in Rachel’s office,” Delphine said, shaking her head. She fumbled with her purse, and pulled out a small tube. “Here, try this.” She handed it to Cosima.

“Concealer?”

Delphine nodded.

With a frown, Cosima rubbed some of the fluid onto her nautilus tattoo. After a few layers, the dark ink was almost invisible. “It doesn’t really match,” Cosima said, holding out her right arm for Delphine to see the now pale spot on her inner arm with a few greyish spots where her tattoo shone through the make-up. “But I guess it’s better than nothing, I doubt anyone will look up close at my arms.”

Delphine glanced at Cosima’s arm, running her warm fingers along the wrist. “At least you can cover the worst of it.”

“Yeah, almost done,” Cosima said, taking her arm back. She applied some of the concealer to the dandelion on her other arm. Despite it’s size, this one was easier; it was not so very dark. Once satisfied enough with the result, Cosima put the cap back on the tube, and handed it to Delphine. “Let’s go.”

\---

They were standing in the elevator, going down. There had been almost no people when they had walked from the patient room to the elevators, and the elevator itself was completely private, allowing Cosima to rest against Delphine for a moment.

“There is a party tonight,” Delphine told Cosima. “Just ignore the guests, _bien_? We walk straight to the door.”

“What kinda party?”

“Just a presentation for some side project DYAD sponsors,” Delphine shrugged it off. She had been too busy with Cosima’s treatment to worry about this event; Rachel had arranged everything needed. “I don’t know what it is exactly, Rachel is supposed to be there, but she’s having a long nap in her office.”

“A nap?” Cosima suddenly felt the drowsiness fall from her. She looked up at Delphine.

Delphine stared at the elevator door, not meeting Cosima’s inquisitive look. 

“You drugged her?”

“Only a little bit,” Delphine admitted.

Cosima let out a long breath. She shifted her weight to her other leg; these heels were incredibly uncomfortable. “Remind me to never piss you off,” she told Delphine.

A soft smile broke through Delphine’s frown for the first time tonight. “You could never.”

Cosima was too occupied with keeping her balance in the too tall heels to see the smile on Delphine’s face. She adjusted the dress, straightening the seam around her knees.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, just a bit tired I guess.” Cosima finished fidgeting with her dress. She straightened her back, and squeezed Delphine’s hand simultaneously.

Delphine softly squeezed back. “I’d lover to hold your hand all the way to the door, but Rachel and I aren’t that close,” she said.

“I’d hope not,” Cosima answered. Just then, the doors opened and she let go of Delphine and took a step aside just in time. 

It was crowded outside the elevator. The entire lobby was filled with people in varying degrees of formal wear. A stage had been set up at the far right of the room opposite to the stairs. Bright stage lights illuminated the enormous glass hall, and the people in it. They were talking and drinking, walking around the room. Each of them looked like they belonged here, like they were brilliant and had worked hard to know that. They held themselves with an arrogant grace. 

“Let’s go,” Delphine said. She had stepped aside, and gestured for Cosima to get out of the elevator.

Complying, Cosima stiffly left the safe space for the terrifying hall. It seemed to her as if everyone was watching her, but the only person who had eyes for the clone was Delphine. With a brave smile at Delphine, Cosima raised her chin and kept her eyes fixed on her goal: the door outside, all the way across the room.

As she moved between the vast numbers of guests, Cosima caught bits and pieces of conversations, which were way beyond her own medical knowledge. Twice, she nearly stopped in an attempt to overhear more information. A stern look from Delphine, who was only a few steps to her left, pretending not to follow the clone, urged Cosima to keep moving.

When Cosima was almost at the door, she noticed Delphine was gone. Panicked, she stopped and searched for her. The director of DYAD had been held up by a small group of people clinging to her with questions. With a polite smile, she was listening to one of them speak. Almost invisibly, she glanced over the speaker’s shoulder at Cosima. A tiny gesture of her hand told Cosima to keep going.

Swallowing the sourness in the mouth, Cosima did as she was expected to. She held her head high, and stiffly soldiered on. Her heart pounded against her chest, threatening to break through her ribcage. She no longer heard the conversation around her, just a loud buzz and the uneven clicking of Rachel’s heels against the tile floor.

“Miss Duncan.”

It took Cosima a moment to register that the person being greeted to was she. After taking another two steps, she finally stopped. Slowly she turned around, only to be greeted by a tall and elegant woman; the one who had called out for Rachel Duncan a moment earlier. She was holding her hand out for Cosima to shake, a diplomatic smile on her face.

It took Cosima a long moment to react. The blood was rushing in to her head, and she felt as if she might throw up on the stranger’s shoes. “Hello,” she finally said, remembering only at the last moment to add a British accent. Instinctively, she reached out to shake the strangers hand, turning her arm at an awkward angle to not show the smudged of her tattoo. With a stern nod, Cosima did her best Rachel impression. “How awesome you could make it tonight,” she said.

This stranger clearly knew Rachel, and what was worse, she expected Rachel to know her as well. “I wouldn’t miss it,” the stranger told her, with a slightly suspicious look. Before she could inquire after Rachel’s odd behaviour, someone behind Cosima distracted her. “Good evening Dr. Nealon,” she said, and let go of Cosima’s hand in favour of shaking Nealon’s sweaty palm.

“Evie Cho,” Nealon said, greeting the stranger when he joined Cosima and the stranger, whose name was apparently Evie Cho. “Haven’t seen you in a while,” he said, and took a long drink from his glass of wine.

“I’ve been busy,” Evie told him harshly. 

“Ah, yeah,” Cosima interjected. She wanted to get out of this conversation, but she had lost Delphine in the crowd, and these people clearly wanted something from Rachel. Perhaps she could distract them with small talk, as she tried to figure out how to get out of this room. “How’s it going?”

“My project, you mean?” Evie asked.

Cosima nodded, careful to not appear too enthusiastic. “Yes, your project. That’s totally what I meant.” Again, she looked around the room, trying to find Delphine’s golden curls. Delphine was nowhere close to where Cosima had last seen her, and not to be found anywhere else either. Impatiently, Cosima shifted her weight in the uncomfortable heels.

“Great, very great,” again, Evie seemed a little suspicious. She then turned to Dr. Nealon, “I was told you have a new subject for me to test on.”

“A new subject?” Cosima interjected. “You mean Cosima?”

Nealon looked down on her, nodding solemnly. “Of course. And, more importantly, the child.”

“The child?” Cosima could not hide her surprise.

“Manning’s child will be ready in a couple of days, she recovering downstairs from a bone marrow harvest,” Nealon told Evie, ignoring Cosima.

“I wasn’t informed of this,” Evie told him. She appeared angry, but Cosima was quite sure that this woman might always be a little fierce. “You said yesterday that I could get started as soon as I arrived.”

Dr. Nealon shrugged. “Sorry,” he said, and took another drink. “You know Dr. Cormier?” Nealon asked Evie. 

“I know of her,” Evie cryptically stated. “We never had the pleasure of meeting.”

All Cosima could do was listen to their exchange. She was feeling lightheaded again; almost unable to stand and contribute to the conversation. Focussing on taking deep breaths, Cosima forced her face to look as stern as possible, and hoped it would be enough.

“She wanted to harvest the child for 324B21,” Nealon told her.

“That is futile,” Evie said, shaking her head disapprovingly “Dr. Cormier seems far too involved with her subject, it’s no good she’s in charge of this institute, even if it’s only by name.”

Dr. Nealon mumbled for a bit, and scratched his gray scalp. “I agree, but we’re working on fixing that.”

Cosima gulped audibly. “Yeah, totally going to fix that,” she said, knowing that Rachel could not be silent during this entire conversation. She could knock herself over the head, so bad was her performance. If only she could find Delphine to come and rescue her from this awkward enactment before she was uncovered for whom she really was.

“Besides, 324B21 is probably beyond saving at this point,” Evie said, while checking her phone, she did not seem too interested in the conversation.

“You’d be surprised how well she’s holding on,” Dr. Nealon said. After thinking for a moment, he added, “Considering the circumstances.”

Both Evie Cho and Cosima mumbled their agreements with him. Before Cosima could answer him, for she suddenly realized this might be her chance to gain some valuable knowledge on her own situation. She tugged on the uncomfortable dress, and tried to come up with some non-suspicious question to ask him. 

“Ah, I see Dr. Cormier coming this way,” Nealon said, before Cosima could say anything. “Let me introduce you, Evie.” The two of them disappeared into the crowd.

As Cosima desperately tried to follow them to find Delphine, and leave this party with her, someone tapped her shoulder. She spun around, and saw a nervous young man standing before her. Awkwardly, Cosima adjusted her hat. She frowned at him; she could no longer see Nealon and Cho, and she had still to find Delphine.

“Mrs Duncan, they are asking for you backstage,” the guy said.

Cosima stopped trying to find anyone familiar, and turned her attention at him. “Backstage?” she asked.

“To get ready,” he said. When she did not start moving immediately, he elaborated. “For your speech later.” He motioned for her to follow him.

“Speech?” Cosima swallowed. This was not going according to Delphine’s plan; she should be outside by now. And how late would Rachel exactly be, Cosima had no idea; she might not have a lot of time left. Either way, she could not actually give a speech; Cosima still did not even know what this party was for. “Right, of course,” she mumbled, and followed the guy.

As she walked across the room, Cosima grew more panicked by the minute. She felt disoriented, and nauseous. She tried to escape into the first door she saw, but the guy, who she assumed was some sort of technical coordinator of the event noticed and tugged her along. Disappointed, Cosima resigned to her fate, and followed him.

Just before she left the room, she crossed eyes with Delphine. The tall blonde was standing too far away to reach Cosima in time, though she clearly was trying. Delphine mouthed something to Cosima, but the clone could not understand what she was trying to tell her. “Help me,” she whispered back, just before her guide asked her again to come inside.


	24. Delphine +38

Evie chatted about her directed gene-therapy, of which she, as usual, refused to provide any details of to Delphine. Nealon was trying very hard to get Delphine to engage in the conversation, but Delphine was not interested in Evie, or her strange experiments.

Finally, at long last, she saw Rachel’s hat across the room. Cosima was practically being dragged away by some guy in non-formal wear. Delphine saw the clone sway on her high heels, as she looked about the room in sheer panic.

“Excuse me,” Delphine mumbled to Dr. Nealon and Evie. She made her way towards Cosima, bumping into people here and there as she tried to reach the clone in time. “Sorry,” Delphine said, when she nearly spilled her glass of wine over a stranger. She should have set it down, but there was no time for it now. The crowd was thick, and did not move aside for her.

Delphine was only halfway the room, far from the door they had tried to reach, when Cosima entered the room which was used for technical purposed tonight. Before she left the main hall, Cosima turned around one last time. Somehow, her eyes found Delphine. A brief look of relief crossed her face.

Without yelling across the room, Delphine tried to tell the clone that she should not blow her cover. 

Cosima clearly didn’t understand Delphine. She whispered something that appeared to be a cry for help, but Delphine had never been particularly good at lip-reading, and definitely not in English. When Cosima had left the lobby, Delphine forced herself to get moving again. This time a little less frenzied; Cosima would be fine as long as she did not give away her cover.

When she finally reached the closed door, Delphine took a deep breath and lifted the corners of her mouth to generate a smile before she entered. “Rachel, there you are!” Delphine said, waving at Cosima with her hand not on the door handle, almost spilling the rest of the wine over the edge of the glass.

“Delphine,” Cosima looked relieved. She was standing in the middle of the room, while the technician who had taken her to the room was fastening a microphone to her dress. Several other people were working on sound and light instrument around the room; neither Cosima nor Delphine paid them any attention. Cosima looked relieved to see Delphine, she reached out to her.

Delphine gave Cosima a stern look and hoped Cosima could uphold the act of Rachel a little longer. “I have been looking everywhere for you,” Delphine said in her most diplomatic, agitated professional voice.

“I have been here the entire time,” Cosima said, making an embarrassing ridicule of Rachel’s’ posh accent. She nudged the technician away, and grabbed Delphine’s elbow and pulled her away. Once they were standing in a secluded corner, Cosima asked, “Where were you?”

“I’m sorry,” Delphine said in a hushed tone. She looked around the room at the other people. None of them paid the two women any attention. “I’m still the director, these people wanted to speak to me. I couldn’t just ignore them, and by the time I had excused myself, you were gone.”

“Shit,” Cosima mumbled. She dried to run her hand through her dreads, but instead hit the hat. Seemingly slightly disappointed, she scratched the edge of the hat. “I need to get out of here. They want me to give a speech!”

Delphine nodded. She chewed her lip, and kept a professional distance from the woman that Cosima was supposed to be. “I didn’t intent for you to talk to anyone,” Delphine whispered.

“I wasn’t the one that started it,” Cosima retorted. “That woman, Cho, started it.”

“It doesn’t matter. You can’t give that speech, they’ll know.”

“Yeah, I know!” Cosima said, rolling her eyes.

“Don’t yell,” Delphine whispered. She glanced over her shoulder at the others in the room. No-one seemed to even be aware of the two women talking in a corner between a busted stage lamp and a couple of crates with empty wine bottles. “You can yell all you want later,” Delphine told Cosima when she turned back towards her.

With a small smile, Cosima shook her head. “Right, let’s get out of here first. Do you have a plan B?”

Again, Delphine looked around the room. There was only one way out, and it was through the lobby filled with people. Surely that would attract some attention, Rachel was supposed to give that speech in only a few minutes. Delphine shook her head. She bit her bottom lip as she thought deeply.

“Miss Duncan, are you ready?” the technician asked.

“Almost,” Cosima answered the technician. “One last thing to discuss with Dr. Cormier here.” She pulled Delphine closer, and whispered to her, “Nothing at all?”

Delphine shrugged. She realized that their time had run out, Rachel could wake up any moment now, if she not already had. And Cosima was doing a horrible job at impersonating Rachel, there was no way she would be able to pull of a speech in front of over a hundred people, most of whom knew Rachel very well, and quite a couple who knew Cosima as well. They needed to get out of this building, right no. “Just follow my lead,” Delphine told Cosima. “We’re going to have to improvise.” 

Cosima let out an odd alarmed squeak, but did not have time to protest as Delphine already left her. The clone could do nothing but follow the immunologist, joining her and the technician near the door. She was pale, and when Delphine looked down she noticed Cosima’s hands were trembling slightly.

“Mrs Duncan is ready,” Delphine said.

“Finally.”

Irritated by the crude remark, Cosima gave the guy a harsh look; lifting her chin and staring him down until he finally looked away in his discomfort.

He mumbled a bit, and then motioned for Cosima to turn around so he could check the microphone one last time. 

Delphine took a step back, leaning against a table as she refilled her wineglass with one of the half full bottles of red wine standing on it. She waited until the two were done. 

When he was satisfied her microphone worked, the guy said, “You’ll need to take the hat off.”

“No!” Cosima said, loud enough to make nearly all the heads in the room turn to her.

“Your face will be in the shadow, it won’t look good,” he argued. Delphine was sure that if it really had been Rachel he was talking to, he would have been fired ten times over already.

Cosima shook her head stubbornly. Of course she could not take her hat off, even though everyone in this room was hired just for the event tonight, they all had to find it at least a bit peculiar that the posh figurehead of such an impressive multinational was wearing dreadlocks.

“Let me see,” Delphine said, pretending to want to offer her opinion on the hat matter. She pushed herself away from the table, and quickly took a few steps towards Cosima, who appeared increasingly panicked. At the last moment, just before she had reached Cosima, Delphine tripped over one of the cables lying on the floor. She stumbled on her heels, spilling her red wine across Cosima’s chest. “Oh no! I’m so sorry,” Delphine mumbled. She found a tissue in her purse, and immediately started dabbing at the large stain under a constant stream of apologies. “Your dress, I’m so very sorry,” Delphine said.

Cosima did nothing; she simply stared at Delphine. 

“Let me clean it for you!” Delphine continued to act terribly apologetic, hoping that Cosima would be able to see what she was trying to do.

“Stop that! It’s red wine, on a white dress. It won’t come off,” Cosima finally said. This time, she pulled off a fairly good Rachel impression. She took a step back, and inspected the, now no longer white, dress. She seemed shocked, but there was a sparkle in her eyes only Delphine could see.

“I’m so sorry, please forgive me. Those cables…” Delphine mumbled, she pointed at the cables she had stumbled over. “I tripped. I’m so sorry.”

“I have to change,” Cosima said. 

A wave of relief came over Delphine; Cosima understood. “You have clean clothes in your office, no?” Delphine suggested. She shook her head, very subtle.

Cosima frowned. “No…” she said. She was playing along, as best as she could, still drowsy and disoriented, Delphine could not help but pity her. She hated having to put Cosima through this so soon after waking up from her anaesthetic, but making up for it would come later when the clone was safe. 

“Maybe a change in your car?” Delphine suggested, slightly nodding her head this time.

“…Yes,” Cosima said. Her expression turned a bit brighter. She straightened her back, lifted her chin and told the technician, “Stall the audience, I’ll be right back.” Then she turned to Delphine, “You, you did this, you’re coming with me.” 

“Yes, Ma’am,” Delphine said, unable to completely hide her grin.

Together, they walked to the back door, so that they might avoid the largest part of crowd. As soon as they were away from the party, Delphine stopped for a moment to make sure the clone was all right.

Cosima leaned against Delphine, letting out a shaky breath. Delphine did not ask. She simply gave Cosima a couple of minutes to collect herself. The poor clone had to be exhausted, and she still had to perform as Rachel one last time.

After a deep sigh, Cosima gave Delphine’s arm a soft squeeze where she was holding it. She glanced down at the messy dress, and then up at Delphine with mischief in her eyes. Slowly, the clone ran a hand across her face. “You said that all the exits were blocked,” she finally said to Delphine.

“Yes, when I checked earlier, they were.” Delphine looked around the hallway. Right now it was empty, most people were at the party in the main lobby and the adjacent rooms. Delphine usually did not go into these corridors, but when she had learned of Rachel’s mischief while Cosima was still unconscious, she had tried to find a way to smuggle Cosima out. It was obvious that Rachel had anticipated this, and had blocked her before she could even make a move.

“Then what’s your plan?” Cosima asked loudly. Delphine saw her tired expression, the clone longed to lie down, and she was growing irritable.

“Shhh.” Delphine tried to calm Cosima a little.

The clone raised an eyebrow, but did not protest Delphine.

Without saying anything, Delphine started to make her way along the white hallway.

Behind her, the irregular clicking of the high heels followed suit, and Cosima rapidly caught up with her.

“Stop!” The guard jumped up from his seat next to the plain emergency exit. He had been playing with his phone, but put it in his pocket as soon as he saw the two women. He stared them up and down, lingering for a moment on Cosima’s stained chest, and then with open mouth at Delphine. While he didn’t say anything, his hand was on his gun and he was clearly standing between them and the exit.

Delphine lifted her chin, stood a little taller and said, “Move aside.”

“Madam, you can’t leave this way.”

“Do you know who I am?” Delphine asked, with an authority she had not known she possessed.

Clearly, Cosima was even more impressed by Delphine’s apparent confidence. From the corner of her eye, Delphine could see the clone following the interaction from underneath the brim of her hat with wide eyes.

“No, and I don’t care.”

Delphine frowned. “I need to get something from my car.”

“Sorry madam, we are under strict instructions from Duncan herself to not let anyone enter or leave the building through this door tonight. You can try the front door.”

Finally, Cosima stepped up. In her most posh accent, she said, “Do I look like I’m going to present myself to an audience right now?” She gestured faintly at her dress, and somehow managed to look down on the guard who was at least two heads taller than she.

“Not my problem,” he said. “Take it up with the big boss or something.”

Cosima gasped, acting very appalled by the snide comment.

With a sly grin at Cosima, Delphine leaned forward to very obviously read the man’s nametag. “You might not recognise miss Duncan here, but I do hope you recognise the director of this company,” she said with the sweetest fake smile. “Now move, or you can walk out of that door yourself, and never return.”

The guard stared at her, and then at Rachel. He blinked a couple of times in incomprehension. “It’s locked,” he mumbled in defeat, and stepped aside for them to see the exit for themselves.

“Not for the director, it’s not,” Delphine said. She ran her pass card across the scanner, and the green light immediately lit up. Surely the local fire department would not approve of DYAD locking all the emergency exits, but right now was not the moment for Delphine to be concerned with such futile matters. She winked at Cosima, as she held the door open for the clone. “After you, miss Duncan.”

“Thank you Dr. Cormier.” Cosima nodded a polite goodbye at the guard, and left the building.

Delphine followed her into the cold air. Neither of them was wearing a jacket, and Cosima’s dress was still wet. Only a couple of metres from the exit was Delphine’s car, which she now no longer parked below the building for that seemed like an unsafe escape plan. Delphine unlocked it from a distance, and Cosima needed not to be told to get in. After having closed the door for Cosima, Delphine ran around the front of the car and got behind the wheel.

Cosima was leaning into the seat with her eyes closed. She was shivering slightly.

 _“Tu vas bien?”_ Delphine asked. Her own heart was still pounding in her chest as she could finally relax for a moment. The rush of deceiving the guard had her on a strange high, and she could only begin to imagine what Cosima must feel like. “Are you okay?”

“Hmm,” Cosima mumbled.

Delphine was not sure if Cosima meant that she was fine, or that the impersonation so shortly after she had woken up from the heavy procedure had been too much. Either way, Cosima was still trembling.

In the back seat, Delphine found a blanket. She tucked the clone in, and fastened her seatbelt for her. Very gently, she stroked Cosima’s cheek.

The clone relaxed a little in the warmth, and under Delphine’s touch. She sighed, and leaned into Delphine’s touch. “I feel like I’m about to throw up.”

“I’m sorry,” Delphine said. Cosima did not look like she really was going to throw up, nausea was very common after anaesthesia; it would pass. “You shouldn’t have gotten up and in those heels that quickly after waking up.”

Cosima sighed. She laid her hand on top of Delphine’s for a moment, and then she moved it to her lips, and kissed Delphine’s fingertips lightly. After she let go, she smiled.

Slightly dazed, Delphine needed a moment to collect her thoughts before she reached for her keys. She put them in the ignition, but before she could even turn the keys Cosima told her to wait.

Delphine dropped her hand from the key. “Why?”

“We can’t leave,” Cosima said.

“What do you mean?” Delphine shook her head. “We have to leave!” Rachel would know by now that something was up. Perhaps she even had figured that Cosima was no longer in the patient room. They could not waste time in the car.

Cosima started to unbuckle. “They have Kira.”

“How do you mean they have Kira?” Delphine frowned. She stared at Cosima, she had seen Kira only hours ago, she was safely with her mother, and her grandmother. 

“I mean, Nealon said that Kira is in the basement, and they want to experiment on her.” Cosima was rambling, Delphine needed a long moment before she understood what Cosima was trying to say.

“That’s ridiculous,” Delphine shook her head. “She’s a child.”

“Do you really think they wouldn’t abduct a child? After all they did?”

Slowly, Delphine blinked. _“Merde,”_ she swore.

“Yeah, shit.”

Delphine stared at Cosima, and then at the exit they had just left. She chewed on her lip, smearing the last of her lipstick. Then with a groan, she made up her mind. “You can’t go back inside, you are in no shape for something like that.” Delphine told Cosima, and quickly turned her keys in the ignition. The engine started, and the lights turned on. Delphine shifted to drive, and pushed the gas down. The car did not move, but made a horrible sound.

“I’m not leaving without her, she’s a child!” Cosima said. Her hand was on the parking break.

“Cosima, you can barely walk. Rachel has surely heard that a clone is wandering around that party, pretending to be her,” Delphine said. Of course she wanted to help Kira, but not if it would cost her Cosima. “I will come back, I promise you I won’t leave without her. But I can’t risk you.”

“I can help.”

“No, Cosima,” Delphine shook her head. “You’re trembling with fatigue. Just now you said you were about to throw up, you’ll be in my way.”

“Fine, take me to Sarah. You must let her help you.”

Again, Delphine started the car. This time Cosima did not block her. “Okay, I will. If you promise me to stay safe?” she said, taking a glance in the mirror. The street was completely empty. 

“Fine, but hurry. That poor child is all alone.”

Delphine agreed. Nealon had expressed his wishes on experimenting on Sarah’s child before. He found her beyond fascinating, and Rachel wanted Kira for other reasons, but what those reasons were, Delphine did not know. She hoped Sarah had some more detailed information, and would be able to help her better than Cosima had tonight.


	25. Cosima -75

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a flashback between chapter 16 and 17 of Parallelism Between the Effects of Changed Conditions of Life.

The sound of the city came pouring in through the open window. Inside the small apartment the San Francisco sounds mixed with the music Cosima was playing loudly. All around the tiny living space, she had scattered books and papers. Her multi-coloured laptop was standing in one of the only empty spots on the coffee table as Cosima was sitting cross-legged on a few pillows with her back against the couch.

The books gave might have given the impression she was working on her dissertation, but in reality Cosima was working on her own private project. She was scrolling rapidly through a pile of papers by some Canadian company, explaining a futuristic proprietary cloning techniques for human skin grafts. The clone was practically drooling over it, as she realized that this would be quite similar to whatever way she and her sisters had been made. If only she could find the original clone, or perhaps even better, the scientists who had build them. Cosima had a whole slew of questions she was dying to ask them.

Chewing on the back of her pencil, Cosima read through the columns at top-speed. Delphine could be home any moment now, and she had promised Beth not to tell her girlfriend about any clone stuff. Cosima found it silly, she knew Delphine and if anyone was brilliant enough to solve this riddle, it would be the French immunologist. Perhaps, some day soon she would tell, for the clones seemed to be quite stuck in their investigation without any help. Yet, a promise was a promise, so the clone remained silent for now and was sure to put away any personal clone related research away before Delphine could find it.

Ever since Delphine had returned from France, a few weeks ago, she had been overbearing. The French woman was always by her side, and very interested in everything Cosima was doing. She loved nothing more than lying on the couch wrapped in Delphine’s arms, but it was almost impossible to get any secretive work done with a girlfriend like this. And worst of all: every time Cosima as much as sniffled Delphine came running with a cup of tea and a tissue. It was adorable how much Delphine had missed her and worried about her, but Cosima was anxious Delphine might find some information she should not.

After a couple of notes, Cosima skipped onto the next paper. This time it was about amphibian embryo cloning. Before she had managed to get past the abstract, a call request from Skype popped up on her screen.

Dropping the pencil from her mouth in surprise, Cosima answered the call from her Canadian sister. “Hey, Beth, how are you?” she enthusiastically greeted Beth.

“Fine,” Beth answered stiffly. She was on her phone, in what seemed to be a police car. She was wearing her headphones, and looked stiff and concerned. Despite only being four hours ahead in time, it was already dark in Canada. 

“You don’t look fine. You’re super pale, dude,” Cosima looked a little closer at her sister on the screen.

Beth ran her hand through her hair, pulling the messy bun out in the process. “It’s Paul,” she admitted after having been silent for a moment.

“Men,” Cosima joked, she rolled her eyes.

On her screen, Beth simply stared at Cosima. She was not even the slightest amused, and seemed too tired to care.

“Sorry,” Cosima mumbled. “What’s the matter with Paul?”

Beth shrugged. “I wish I knew…”

“Hey, talk to me,” Cosima encouraged her sister to speak. She would love to help Beth, but the Canadian was very private, and hardly spoke of anything but clone business. Yet, she was clearly upset today. “Please.”

“I can’t,” Beth said. She shook her head, and chewed on her thumbnail as she stared at Cosima. After a while she added, “It’s probably all in my head.”

“Do you still think he’s spying on you?”

Beth nodded, her hair hanging limply in front of her face.

“You know that’s silly, right?” Cosima said. She heard something in the hallway outside of the apartment, and picked her laptop up. Balancing the laptop on her right hand, she carried her cup of tea in her left, and spoke as she made her way to the bedroom. “I mean, why would they spy on you, but not on me? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“How do you know they’re not watching you too?”

Cosima sat the laptop down on the bed, as flopped down in front of it. “While I get the idea of keeping track of your test-subjects, nobody I know would do that to me,” she explained, gesturing wildly and nearly spilling her tea over Delphine’s pillow.

Beth thought about this for a moment, and then shook her head. “How about that exotic, too-good-to-be-true girlfriend of yours?”

“Delphine? No way. She’s a terrible liar, and way too innocent,” Cosima said. The thought had crossed her mind too, because Beth’s paranoia was contagious. But she had countered every accusation, for she knew that Delphine truly loved her. “Besides, she is not into cloning.”

Beth let out an irritated sigh. “Paul isn’t into cloning either.”

“Hmmm, yeah. I think they might follow our doctors, or paper trail. But they wouldn’t want to interfere with our lives like that. Seriously, you’re probably worried about nothing, Beth.”

Glaring at her phone, Beth shook her head “I’m not.” She had become agitated with Cosima, and the American feared that the Canadian might hang up on her.

“Okay, well look into it then. Like, spy back on him or something,” she suggested.

“Oh, I shall,” Beth said. She glanced over her shoulder at someone passing by her car, and pulled her scarf a little closer. 

“Lemme know how that goes.”

Beth nodded solemnly. 

Cosima sat back against the headboard. She sipped her tea, as she waited for Beth to speak again. Her mind wandered, and for a moment she considered visiting Toronto to have a proper talk with her sisters. It was impossible though; Delphine knew Cosima had no siblings, and certainly not in Canada. Cosima wouldn’t lie to her about something like that.

“Did you test our DNA?” Beth suddenly broke Cosima’s train of thoughts. “Are we really clones?”

Slightly jolted, Cosima sat up straight again. She thought about the questions for a moment, for the answer still seemed improbable to her. Slowly, Cosima folded her feet underneath her, and adjusted her glasses. “Yeah, we have sufficient identical markers to assume that we’re clones,” she finally said.

“How do you mean sufficient markers?” Beth asked, immediately suspicious. “Didn’t you test them all?”

Cosima burst into laughter. “That’s funny,” she said, when she saw Beth’s confused expression. “That would cost over 100.000 dollars to do. And months. And aside from, like maybe finding a genetic defect, which I think is highly unlikely, it would only prove again that we’re clones.” It would be fun, but she had no excuse to use the university’s resources for a project like that.

Beth sighed deeply. “You’re sure?” she asked.

In the distance, Cosima could hear someone walking up the stairs of the apartment building. For a moment, she tensed up, her hand hovering over the mouse to disconnect from Beth in case it was Delphine. The footsteps passed by the front door, and continued. Cosima relaxed again, and dropped her hand in her lap. “Yes, I’m very sure. We’re clones.”

“Okay,” Beth said. She clearly did not need much convincing, she had already believed they were clones long before she had even met Cosima, or any of the other clones. Yet, despite the confirmation, Beth still appeared dejected.

“Hey, don’t look so gloomy. Don’t you wanna be my clone?”

Beth raised a single eyebrow at Cosima, only slightly amused. 

Cosima had never understood why Beth found being a clone such a negative thing. The biologist thought it was the opportunity of a lifetime, and she could not wait for some answers to all of her questions. “It’s fascinating, really. I wonder who made us…” Cosima pondered out loud, she stared off in the distance beyond her laptop screen.

“I don’t care who made us, I want to know who’s killing us.”

“Yeah, what’s that about?” Cosima asked. Beth had only been very vague about the other clones. And she had only once mentioned in passing conversation that there was something threatening them; it never seemed very serious.

Beth ran her hand across her face. With drooping eyes, and a deep frown on her face, she fumble for a moment in what must be her bag next to her. Just underneath Cosima’s view, she opened a bottle and shook a single pill into the palm of her hand. She swallowed it and put the bottle away again. After a deep breath, she faced Cosima again. “I don’t know,” she said. She took a drink from a cup of coffee, and then swallowed thickly. “Remember that clone in Europe I mentioned last time?”

“Yeah,” Cosima nodded.

“She’s gone,” Beth bluntly stated.

Cosima shook her head, refusing to believe Beth’s weird conspiracy theories. “But gone doesn’t mean someone killed her, right? That’s a bit paranoid, Beth,” she said, gesturing wildly with her hands to mark her point. Even for you, she thought, but did not add.

Beth took another drink of coffee. “No, I did some digging in the Italian police database, she was shot.” She held up a file for Cosima to see, but with the low-quality phone camera and even worse Internet connection, Cosima had no clue of what exactly Beth was showing her. It was some official report, for there was a bunch of very formal looking stamps all over it. “By a professional, this was no accident, Cosima.”

“How can you know that? Why would anyone want to kill us? We’re just innocent clones, living our lives perfectly unaware,” Cosima tried to make Beth see reason. “We’re no threat, we’re not harming anyone.”

“Maybe the experiment is finished?” Beth suggested.

“Still no reason to kill them,” Cosima said, and then corrected herself. “Us.”

“I agree. The Italian police has no idea who did it though, maybe it’s just a coincidence,” Beth said. “But she’s not the only one who has disappeared so suspiciously.”

Cosima nodded solemnly. She was about to ask Beth if she could talk with another sister, when she heard a key in the lock. “Shit, Delphine’s home. I got to go. Take care.”

Beth opened her mouth, but Cosima quickly disconnected the call.

“Cosima?”

“In here!” Cosima yelled at Delphine. She closed her laptop; after she had made sure that nothing suspicious could be found on it anymore. 

Delphine glanced around the corner of the bedroom. “Are you all right?” she said, as soon as she saw Cosima sitting in bed. She rushed to her side, and laid a hand on Cosima’s forehead. “You weren’t at work, and you didn’t respond to any of my texts,” she said, with a widely concerned expression.

“Sorry, I wasn’t feeling awesome this morning, so I worked from home. And then I was feeling better, and was too busy. And I think my phone might be dead,” Cosima mumbled. She pushed Delphine’s hand away, but not without kissing the palm before letting go. She picked up her phone from between the sheets and checked the black screen. “Yeah, it is empty… Sorry about that,” she said, and fumbled with the charger on her nightstand.

Delphine smiled at her. “It’s fine,” she said, her accent thick.

“You were worried.”

“Yes,” Delphine glanced at her feet. She was shy about it, but she cared so deeply. Delphine’s feelings were obvious, as usual. There was no way that this woman’s was lying and spying; she was simply too sweet.

With a grin, Cosima sat up on her knees. “I love you,” she said, as she took Delphine’s face in her hands. Before Delphine could respond, she kissed her.

“I love you too, _ma chérie._ ” Delphine mumbled when they parted.

For a moment, they sat together. Their hands still intertwined on Delphine’s lap, as they leaned against each other.

“Are we still going out tonight?” Delphine finally whispered. She pulled back to be able to look Cosima in the eyes. “Or would you rather stay in, if you’re not feeling well?”

“No!” Cosima nearly yelled. Today was their six-month anniversary, and Delphine had some mysterious date planned to celebrate. “I want to go out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry, but I cannot post a fresh chapter next week, I will try to get a chapter going again the week after, and then quickly work towards the ending. In the mean time, have you read: [A Cophine Fairy Tale yet](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8867710/chapters/20329636)?


	26. Delphine +39

“Don’t worry, I will find her.” Delphine closed the door behind her. Mrs Sadler had wanted to come with her, but Delphine had insister the woman would look after Cosima for her. Even the passionate Irish rebel could see that it was much more sensible for Dr. Cormier to the institute to find her daughter and granddaughter than she, yet she had trouble accepting this, and even more trouble to trust Delphine with such an important task.

For a moment, Delphine leaned against the small garden gate. A small pink bike was lying right next to the path, and Delphine stared at the worn tires as she took a few deep breaths. She was tired, too tired perhaps. It was completely dark in the street, safe for the few dim streetlights and the light from the house she had just exited.

Delphine turned around. The shadow of Siobhan was standing behind the living room window, her arms folded across her chest. She seemed to ask when she was finally leaving; her entire posture was screaming for Delphine to go rescue her children.

Swallowing the sour taste of old wine in her mouth, Delphine raised her hand shortly in a gesture somewhat resembling a wave. She was not entirely sure what it was supposed to mean. A goodbye perhaps. Or maybe she tried to tell the mother not to worry. Delphine opened the small gate, and walked back to her car, parked down the road.

Only thirty minutes ago, she had carried Cosima up the same sidewalk from the car towards the house. The clone had been feeling too weak to walk, and despite her protests, Delphine had insisted she would allow Delphine to carry her. Cosima had taken almost three unsteady steps, before wrapping herself in Delphine’s arms. She had sighed in the French woman’s neck, and then admitted she was too tired. Delphine had kicked off her heels, and lifted Cosima off the ground with surprising easy. 

When she had knocked on Siobhan’s door, it had been opened so very promptly that Delphine was sure Mrs S had been waiting behind the door. She had immediately asked where her daughter was, and if Delphine had seen Kira.

Delphine had told her she had not. And she had pushed past her, so she could get Cosima to lie down on the couch. Impatiently, she had summarised what had happened to Siobhan, and Cosima had repeatedly asked for Sarah. Shaking her head, Siobhan had rapidly explained that Sarah had left; they had received a message from Rachel that she had Kira, and was willing to exchange her for Sarah.

On the sofa, Cosima had sworn profoundly, and she had tried to get up. Delphine had wasted several precious minutes trying to convince the clone that she was too weak to be of any use, and then a particularly touch coughing fit had marked her point and Cosima had given up. It had taken Delphine even more determination to convince Siobhan to stay with Cosima. In the end, the Irish woman had given in, seeing that it would be odd for her to walk into the institute in the middle of the night. She had given Delphine three hours, before she promised to barge in there herself, and leave no survivors.

Now Delphine was picking her heels up from the pavement. She slipped them back on. There was a rip in her pantyhose, and her feet were slightly muddy inside the expensive shoes. But no one would see it now. Delphine would wash them later, when she had time to worry about such trivialities. She wrapped her shawl tighter around herself, perhaps she should have asked Siobhan for a jacket or a sweater to borrow. She did not feel like going back for such trivialities, the car would be warm enough she told herself.

Tired, Delphine unlocked her car door. She sank down in the seat, and did not waste time. She was already turning the key in the ignition while buckling her seatbelt with her other hand. Behind her eyes, a headache was burning. By now it seemed years ago she had been blindfolded in the car with Cosima’s cure on her lap, and yet it had only been this morning.

Delphine rubbed her eyes. She sighed, and then finally started her way towards DYAD. She had no plan, yet. First she needed to figure out where Kira was, and hopefully also where Sarah was.

When she drove passed Mrs S’s home, she saw Siobhan taking to Cosima on the couch. She knew the clone was safe with the strong and fierce woman. An unexpected serenity came over Delphine. Confidently she turned a right at the end of the block.

“What’s the plan?”

Delphine screamed. In her shock, she pulled her steering wheel. She nearly hit a car in the opposing lane. Its horn still rang in her ears when she pulled over to the side of the road. Delphine did not know what to say. She did not know what to do. Shaking like a leaf, she turned around to face the person in her backseat.

“Who?” she finally said. “What?” she asked.

In the dark, she could not see a face on the stranger. When there was no answer to her questions, Delphine blindly fumbled for the light switch. For the first time in her life she wished she had a weapon.

The figure in the backseat was moving. Delphine was pushed back in her seat, as the stranger pushed past her and managed to squeeze from the backseat into the passenger’s seat. Several limbs struck Delphine, and an overwhelming smell of cheap detergent mixed with something that vaguely reminded Delphine of cabbage.

When the figure was finally sitting in a position that resembled how most people sat in a car seat, she pulled the hood from her coat. “So, what’s the plan?”

Delphine stared at her stowaway passenger. Her hair was wild, a halo around her in the light of the street. Her clothes were ill fitting, and their mismatching haphazardness was a start contrast to Delphine’s tailored dress and immaculate hair. The woman was inspecting the glove compartment as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

“I’m sorry,” Delphine had unbuckled her belt again. She had one hand on the door, ready to run back to S and Cosima. “Who are you? Why are you in my car?”

Dropping Delphine’s insurance files on the floor, the woman looked up. For the first time, Delphine could see her face behind the hair and underneath the hoody.

With a gasp, Delphine let to of the door. The face was familiar, once again. It was Cosima’s face, but this time with a haunted and pathological expression, even more so than had become evident on Cosima’s face recently.

“I’m Helena,” the clone said. Her East-European accent was heavy, yet she did not seem bothered by it at all. Cosima had mentioned Sarah had a twin sister, and she had been raised in a cloister and was completely bonkers yet useful in a fight, or so Sarah had told her clone. “I’m here to help my _sestra i plemyannica_.”

“How do you know about that?” Delphine asked. She had hoped for secrecy surrounding these abductions, only that way she would be able to avoid a mess within DYAD, or worse with the local police.

“I hear you talk with Mrs S.” Helena was turning up the heat of the car, toying with each available button. “I think you can use my help.”

Slowly, Delphine nodded. “Maybe, yes,” Delphine said, hesitantly. Somehow, she felt that this clone would not accept a no; stubbornness was clearly a genetic trait. “Helena’s reputation had preceded her. But Helena, you must listen to me. I don’t want anybody to get hurt; your sisters’ lives depend on that. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Yes.”

Delphine was expecting some elaboration. It did not come, so she turned car back on and joined back into the traffic. With only the sound of the radio, they drove towards the institute. Desperately, Delphine tried to think of something to say to the peculiar clone, but she was lost.

“So, what’s the plan?” Helena asked when they finally saw the first glimpse of the chrome building. 

The lights were out; the party was over. Only on the pre-ultimate floor was a light still on; in what Delphine knew were the operating rooms. Not answering Helena’s question, Delphine parked the car in the same spot she had left only hours ago.

\---

“Give me the knife,” Delphine demanded. She was at eye level with the clone, and up close Helena’s face was even more terrifying than in the dim car light. 

“No,” Helena said. She took another step up the stairs.

Delphine grabbed the clone’s hand. “Helena,” she said, her tone threatening. She could not let the clone wander around the DYAD building alone, armed. Delphine held out her free hand for the clone to give her the knife.

“Why?”

With a sigh, Delphine explained, “I don’t want anyone to get hurt.” They had no time for this, if Helena was making this already so very hard, perhaps Delphine should not let her try to find Sarah alone. But they were pressed for time, surely Rachel would try to stop them from retrieving Sarah and her daughter; Delphine and Helena had decided that their best chance was to be faster than Rachel.

“Nobody will get hurt, if they cooperate,” Helena argued with Delphine.

“The knife, or you’re waiting in the car.”

“Fine,” Helena gave Delphine the knife. If she were capable of killing with just a look, Delphine knew she would already be death. Helena pulled her arm free and made her way upstairs, to where Delphine hoped Sarah was, in one of the rooms where there was still light burning past midnight. Because if it was not Sarah in that room, it would be Kira, and the poor child had already suffered more than enough for a seven year old. 

“Thank you,” Delphine softly called after Helena. “You’ll get it back, I promise,” she mumbled as she started to make her own way downstairs.

At the bottom, Delphine wandered back into the basement labyrinth. She had come to loathe the secret laboratories, and worse, the prison rooms in the artificial lights. After all her visits to Cosima here, the gruesome experiments she knew had taken place in the laboratories she walked past, and there the room where Ethan, Cosima’s best hope for a permanent cure, had passed away.

Rapidly, Delphine checked any room where Rachel might keep a prisoner. One by one, they turned out to be empty as she glanced through the observation windows. Never before had Delphine realized how scarily many of these rooms there were in the building.

When there was only one room left, at the very end, of the darkest and most secret corner of the basement, Delphine scoffed at Rachel’s cunning irony. This had been Cosima’s prison up to very recently, of course Rachel would stow away the clone’s niece here. Delphine entered the small observation room, and glanced into the bathroom. There was a pink toothbrush and butterfly hairclips next to the sink. The door to the room was closed, but Delphine knew exactly what she would find. Impatiently, Delphine left the observation room to collect the child.

She scanned her pass card next to the door, and not awaiting the beep to announce the unlocking of the door to the prisoner. Delphine knocked her nose into the door, as it did not open when she expected it to. Aggravated, she scanned her card again, and noticed a subtle red light. No sound, no green light. Just a locked door.

Delphine knew that a warning would have gone to security to tell them someone unauthorised was trying to get to the prisoner. She glanced over her shoulder at one of the security cameras. Chewing on her bottom lip, Delphine considered her options. She was the director of the institute; she should have access to every room here. There was too much going on behind her back, she knew. 

Delphine rummaged through her purse, trying to come up some solution. She picked up her phone, and briefly considered calling security herself to open the door for her. As quickly as the idea came to her, she dismissed it again; Rachel would find out. When she dropped her phone back into her purse, she saw Helena’s knife.

With a sly grin, Delphine took the knife. She inspected the intriguing figures on the handle for a second, before she realized she did not have the time to admire its carvings. Kneeling carefully in her heels in front of the door, Delphine remembered what Cosima had told her about her escape from the room. DYAD had replaced the lock, but not reinforced it.

It was surprisingly easy for Delphine to work the plastic cover of the scanner. She inspected the electronics underneath. The scientist could explain electronics perfectly on a molecular level, but she knew next to nothing about wires. Delphine decided that Cosima had been right; the safest way to open the door was to burn it.

She took a bottle of hand sanitizer from her bag, and applied the gel liberally over the bare components of the electronic lock. Then, she pulled her lighter out and produced a tiny flame. Cosima had made fire by hand, using the most peculiar objects as Delphine recalled her story. With the lighter in her hand, Delphine felt an alien sense of gratitude that she was a smoker.

The electronics burned with a bright blue flame. The wires within the lock snapped within seconds, and before long they were completely burned out. Delphine Did not wait, she pushed against the door and indeed it opened.

“Aunty Delphine!” A small figure hurled herself against Delphine and wrapped her arms around the doctor’s waist.

Delphine saw the blonde curls. “Hey Monkey,” she whispered. For a moment, she enjoyed the embrace, and returned the embrace.

“Where is mommy?”

“She’s upstairs, Kira.” Delphine kneeled in front of the small figure. “How are you feeling, are you hurt?” Expertly, the doctor checked the child for injuries, and signs she had been experimented upon. 

Kira shook her head. “Not really. They gave me an injection, for aunty Cosima. But it doesn’t hurt very much anymore,” she told Delphine.

“Oh dear, you are so very brave,” Delphine smiled at the seven year old.

Kira shook her head. She stared at the floor, and whispered, “I’m scared.”

“Yes, of course,” Delphine cupped her small chin. She lifted her head, and gave the girl her bravest smile. She too was scared, but determined to not let it affect this innocent child. “Let’s get you out of here. Let’s find your mommy.”

“Yes please.” Kira put her hand in Delphine’s, and bravely nodded.

Delphine stood up, her tired feet protested in the heels. She had a quick look around the room, which looked almost the same as when Cosima had inhabited it, minus the DNA-model. Instead, it was filled with pink dolls, and stuffed animals. With colouring pencils, and picture books stacked neatly as if the child had not touched them at all. There was nothing personal of Kira in the room. “Do you something warm to wear?” Delphine asked, not wanting to subject the child to the Canadian winter air in nothing but her pyjamas and neat white socks with a lace trim, more fit for decoration than warmth.

Kira shook her head.

“Okay, take this.” Delphine took the shawl from her shoulders, and wrapped it around the small body. It was almost a dress around the child, but Kira did not seem to mind. Her hand gripped the edges, and she beamed gratefully at Delphine.

“I need you to be quiet, and keep up with me, okay?” Delphine asked Kira, as they walked out of the room.

Kira again took hold of Delphine’s hand. “Okay.”

The child trusted her, unconditionally. The small hand in her own was a peculiar sort of reassurance, and Delphine held it carefully in her own. They could not run as fast as she wanted to, but the fear of guards made her push Kira rapidly towards the exit. Together, they climbed the stairs towards where Delphine had last seen Helena.

Above all hope, Helena was already waiting for her in the spot they had agreed upon. Sarah was sitting next to her, wearing what seemed to be a nurse’s uniform. 

“Monkey!”

“Mommy!” Kira broke free from Delphine, letting go of her hand in favour of burying herself in her mother’s arms.

After a long hug, Sarah held her daughter at arm’s length. She inspected Kira, searching for injuries as Delphine had done a few minutes ago. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

“No,” Kira shook her head.

Again, Sarah wrapped her in a big hug. “Thank you,” she told Delphine, looking over her daughters shoulder at the doctor.

Delphine nodded at the clone on the floor. “Helena, are you okay?” she asked the second clone. 

“Yes, very much okay,” Helena answered. She was leaning against the wall, next to the door. Her hands, and part of her sweater were covered in blood, yet she did not seem concerned for her own wellbeing at all. The clone grinned widely at Sarah and Kira.

“You’re covered in blood,” Delphine said. “Aren’t you hurt?”

“It’s not mine.”

Delphine stared at Helena. Slowly, she turned towards Sarah for an explanation. 

The Brit just shrugged, seemingly unaffected by her sister’s behaviour. “It’s Rachel’s,” Sarah said, she covered Kira’s ears.

“What?” Delphine shook her head at the Ukrainian clone. “I told you not to hurt anybody, Helena!” She had taken the knife away to prevent anyone from getting hurt, so that they might get out of the building unnoticed. Harming Rachel was the exact opposite of that.

“I don’t need knife to stab people,” Helena answered, as if that was a perfect excuse to stab people.

Sarah, still covering Kira’s ears, added, “Technically a scalpel is a knife too.”

“Yes, that’s true, _sestra._ ” Helena said with a big grin at her sister. She nodded enthusiastically.

“Is she alive?” Delphine asked, afraid for the answer she might get. Yet, she was not sure if she wanted a yes or a no. 

“She was when we left,” Sarah said. She got up, never letting go of Kira’s head. Delphine sincerely doubted that the child could not follow every word of the adults’ conversation, especially considering the mischievous look upon her face. “Probably not anymore. Good riddance.”

Pondering the comment, Delphine suddenly panicked. A DYAD without Rachel, who was still its figurehead and knew much more than Delphine did, was a DYAD spun out of control. “No, we need her alive!” Delphine dug in her purse, and fished her car keys out of it. “Here,” she said, handing the keys to Sarah. “Helena knows where to find the car, go straight home.”

“What are you going to do?” Sarah asked.

“I don’t know. But I can’t just let Rachel die,” Delphine admitted. “Here, your knife. I should have known that there was no point in taking it from you,” she gave Helena her knife back.

The clone shrugged, her grin betraying her happiness at receiving her knife back.

“Get them to safety, okay?” Delphine asked Helena.

At once solemn, Helena nodded frantically at Delphine. “Yes, I will do this for you. Don’t worry.”

“Be careful, okay?” Delphine asked all of them. 

Sarah rolled her eyes at Delphine’s concern.

Ignoring it, Delphine whispered to her, “Give Cosima all my love.”

Sarah nodded. She would, Delphine was sure of it. Before running up the stairs, Delphine gave Kira a small wave.

“Thank you, Aunty Delphine.”

“Bye Kiddo,” Delphine answered, and made her way towards the fifth floor. She trusted Helena to get Sarah and Kira outside by herself; she had no choice. With worry in her stomach, Delphine took the stairs two at the time. She shivered slightly, despite the exercise. If something had happened to Rachel, her own position at DYAD would be in danger too, and that would affect Cosima and her sisters too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The way Delphine burns the lock is almost exactly the same as how Cosima did it, except she used hand sanitizer to make the burn last a little longer and spread over the entire lock. In most hand sanitizers, ethyl alcohol would be the component that burns the best.


	27. Cosima +41

“Hmmm, that’s strange.” The cold and clammy hands moved the stethoscope across Cosima’s bare back. Behind her, Dr. Nealon mumbled something unintelligible, but did not elaborate.

“Strange?” Cosima asked, her chest tightening immediately. A doctor saying strange when listening to your sick lungs was never a good sign. She tried to turn around, to see the grey-haired man whose hands were all over her back.

Nealon took her shoulder to keep her from turning. “Take another deep breath,” he commanded. 

Cosima sighed.

Again, Dr. Nealon mumbled something unintelligible. After listening for a few breaths, he dropped the stethoscope and moved away from the examination table, shuffling between his papers on the table in the corner of the room

“Come on Doc, don’t say strange and then don’t elaborate, that’s cruel,” Cosima said. She turned around to face him.

The only reason Cosima was sure he had heard her was a brief frown upon his face. He made a few notes as he leaned above the papers without looking up at his patient. 

“What’s so strange?”

Finally, Nealon was done with his notes. He stood in front of Cosima and folded his arms. “Hmmm, the pleural friction rub is significantly less prominent than the previous time I listened to your lungs.”

“Three days ago?” Cosima remembered the examination before her treatment quite well; almost as good as she recalled what had happened afterwards. Even though it seemed weeks ago, it had only been three days since so much had changed. And this treatment was only meant to give the sick clone a little respite. Yet, beyond all hope Cosima had been feeling noticeably better the past two days.

“Indeed,” Dr. Nealon nodded. “It is too soon to say so, but I’d think that the treatment is helping. For now at least.”

“It might just be a good day…” Cosima thought out loud. She might be feeling better, but there were always days she felt quite well, almost making her think that the disease was only in her mind, for her to wake up the next morning in agony beyond her imagination; worse than her cruellest nightmares. Yet, those good days were her strength; they fuelled her faith she was capable of feeling completely healthy, someday. 

“It probably is,” Dr. Nealon said. He adjusted his tie, and looked down upon the clone. “I’ll see you again in a week to make sure the treatment is truly working. Either way, it is no permanent cure.”

Cosima nodded. “I know that. We’re still working on that.” She jumped off the table, happy to get out of the room with the cold man. She pulled her shirt back on in a hurry. 

“Right, good luck with that. In the mean time, you’re in good hands,” Nealon said. He got back to his papers, dismissing Cosima.

While Cosima was pulling her cardigan on, someone knocked on the door.

Without looking up, Nealon answered, “Enter.”

Cosima adjusted her cardigan, as she looked at the person entering. A smile crept onto her face as she recognized Delphine. 

“Hello, are you ready here?” Delphine smiled at Cosima, but spoke to Dr. Nealon.

“Yes,” Dr. Nealon answered. He stood up, and greeted his boss. “Perfect timing.”

“How is she doing?”

Dr. Nealon thought for a moment. He ran his hand through his gray hair, and cleared his throat. “Better than expected, you shall have a full report and the results of the tests on your desk by morning.”

Delphine grinned excitedly at Cosima. “Thank you,” she told Nealon, while she gestured an invitation to leave at Cosima.

Grateful to get out of the cold examination room, Cosima grabbed her coat and said, “Yeah, thanks dude.” It visibly irritated the middle-aged man to be called a dude, but he could not tell her off with his boss standing right besides the annoying clone. Satisfied, Cosima grinned sweetly at him. 

“Are you ready to go?” Delphine asked Cosima.

Impatiently, Cosima was already half out the door. “Yeah,” she said, as if it was needed; the eager expression on her face said plenty. “Goodbye Dr. Nealon.” She waved a little and exited the room.

“Goodnight, Alan.” Delphine followed Cosima rapidly. 

“Goodnight,” Dr. Nealon said, before slamming the door shut behind the two women. 

Neither of them wasted time standing outside the examination room. They walked towards the exit, silently enjoying each other’s company. Cosima noticed that Delphine was already wearing her coat; she probably thought that Cosima wanted to leave.

“Are you ready to go home, _ma chérie?_ ” Delphine asked, confirming Cosima’s suspicions. 

Cosima shook her head, “No, not yet.” She was standing still, looking briefly out of a window at the Toronto skyline.

Delphine stood besides her, watching her with a questioning look. The French woman did not ask; she simply waited for Cosima to elaborate.

“I want to visit my sister before we leave,” Cosima finally said.

“Do you really think that’s a good idea?” Delphine asked, cautiously.

Cosima was sure. According to Delphine Rachel was completely bed bound in a secured room, her sister had no power anymore. “Yes.”

“Okay,” Delphine softly said. She looked down at Cosima, frowning slightly. “This way please,” she said, leading Cosima towards one of the patient rooms beyond the examination room from which Cosima had just exited. 

\---

Cosima hesitated in the doorframe. The room looked quite familiar; white and sterile. A single patient bed stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by medical equipment. In the bed, looking disturbingly fragile was Rachel with her head wrapped in a thick layer of bandages. Slowly, Rachel turned her hear to be able to see the two women standing on the edge of her room. She had to turn her face all the way down, for she had an increased blind spot on the side of the door since recently. 

Cosima swallowed the lump in her throat. She took a deep breath and let go of Delphine’s hand so she could approach Rachel’s bed. “Hey,” she said, painfully aware of how little she had spoken to her sister before today. “How are you?”

“Splendid.”

Cosima nodded. She felt Delphine had joined her, standing just beside her at Rachel’s feet. After hesitating for a moment, Cosima tried to explain why she had come to find Rachel, “We need a cure sis, and I think you know much more than you have been telling.”

Rachel stared back at the two women. She scoffed and shook her head. The corporate clone had never been very amicable to her sisters, but after the stunt Helena and Sarah had pulled a few days ago she had plenty of reason to be downright hostile. When trying to free Sarah, Helena had stabbed Rachel with a scalpel. It had been a desperate move, and Rachel was lucky to even be alive, somehow Helena had missed the most vital parts of her brain, and Delphine had found her quick enough to safe her life. Rachel did not seem particularly grateful, and mostly seemed to regret she did not manage to perform her oophorectomy on Sarah before the clones had escaped her clutches.

When Rachel did not give any suggestion she would answer the question, Cosima tried again. “There is no way your father did not have a backup of that translation key.”

“I know no more than you do,” Rachel said.

Cosima growled. “Oh please, you’ve been blinded by your quest for power.” She leaned over the bed, her face close to Rachel’s. She was tired of all these games; this was a matter of life and death after all. “You know your power won’t last, especially now you’re bed bound….”

Rachel rolled her single uncovered eye.

“And perhaps your eyes have been bigger than your stomach,” Cosima continued. “Honestly Rachel, if we don’t find a cure right now, you might be the next one to cough up your lungs.” She pulled back slightly, faking a cough for emphasis of her point.

“I feel f-fine, thank you.” There was a tiny flicker of doubt on Rachel’s face. The wounded clone looked past her sister as the doctor at the foot of the bed.

Delphine did not intervene. She simply watched the two clones interact with her hands folded in front of her, chewing her bottom lip.

“Between you and me, I think you aren’t fine. But maybe I can make you see the light,” Cosima told Rachel. “Help us now and we can share this cure when we find it.”

Rachel shifted slightly away from Cosima. She thought for a long while, her face unreadable to Cosima. Then, finally, she said, “He had this secret language with me when I was a child,” “He probably used it to write down the cypher to the g-genome somewhere, but I have no idea where.”

“Okay,” Cosima excitedly nudged her sister’s shoulder. She almost felt like hugging her, but at the last moment decided that was not a good idea. “At least we know that there’s something to look for.” Then she turned to Delphine, who looked almost as relieved as Cosima did. “Maybe a visit to his home?”

Rachel shook her head. “I already had some-someone look through his home, there’s n-nothing there.”

Cosima could practically feel her face dropping. Disappointed, searched for a suggestion from Delphine, but the doctor did not look like she had any more inspiration of where to look for a mysterious encrypted cypher than Cosima. After all, it could be in any formal; saved on a hard-drive, scribbled on the back of a matchbox, scratched into a clay tablet, or buried six feet under the third three from a random fountain in an arbitrary park anywhere in the world.

“So it’s pointless really,” Rachel summarised Cosima’s thoughts. “I’d focus on developing a cure by yourselves, if I were you. B-but either way, it will be too late for you anyway,” she told Cosima with a smirk on her face.

“Maybe, but I love my sisters, and even if it’s too late for me, it isn’t too late for them yet,” Cosima retorted. She had the information she had come for; there was no reason for her to stay here any longer. Without waiting for Delphine, Cosima walked out the door.

Only once she was standing outside, she stopped. Delphine was not here yet; she was still standing next to Rachel’s bed. Cosima waited for her and in the mean time put her coat on, now that she had talked to Rachel, she suddenly could no longer wait to get out of this wretched place.

“You need your sisters, Rachel,” Cosima overheard Delphine talking to Rachel. The kind doctor; she was always trying to fight so desperately against things she could not change. “Now more than ever, don’t you see?” Delphine pleaded with Rachel to work with her sisters, instead of against them.

“Please, I don’t need those berserk apos-apostates,” Rachel answered, dismissing Delphine entirely.

“ _Il n'est pire aveugle que celui qui ne veut pas voir,”_ Delphine said. The sound of her heels moved towards the door, and she appeared in Cosima’s view. She carefully closed the door. With a shake of her head, Delphine took Cosima’s hand and they walked off together.

\---

Cosima propped her feet up on the couch beside her. She snuggled a little closer to Delphine. The mug in her hands was empty, but the clone was too lazy to even set it away on the coffee table, and going to the kitchen to refill it was too much work far away from Delphine.

She was happy to be no longer hiding. Since Rachel had lost all her influence at DYAD, and Delphine was officially in charge of the institute, Cosima no longer had to hide. She was glad to be able to go outside whenever she wanted, and to no longer be moved between the homes and safe houses of strangers. Instead, she made the most of the luxury apartment Delphine had been given. It was a relief to be able to sleep in a proper bed again, in between clean sheets and in Delphine’s arms. 

The director of DYAD was scrolling through her emails on her phone. Absentmindedly, she wrapped an arm around Cosima. Her fingers tickled Cosima’s scalp. With a sigh, Delphine dropped her phone. She gently kissed Cosima’s forehead, and then suddenly remembered her tea. She finished the drink, grimacing at the cold bitterness of the beverage. “Do you think Rachel was speaking the truth?” Delphine asked.

“Huh?” Cosima was surprized by the sudden question. “I think so. I mean, she’s gonna need a cure sometime too, right? It’s in her own interest that we find a cure, like ASAP.”

“Yes,” Delphine said. She ran her hand over Cosima’s back, pulling her closer. “While Rachel is very intelligent, she isn’t that smart.”

“True,” Cosima mumbled. She sat up and faced Delphine. “She might not be willing to overlook a silly grudge for the sake of her own life, but I don’t think Ethan was that naïve. He must have written it down.”

Delphine nodded. She cupped Cosima’s cheeks, and kissed her slowly. “Cosima,” she said after she had pulled back. “I think Rachel was right, we have no idea where he wrote it down, even if he did. It might be better to focus on finding a cure ourselves, no?”

Cosima nodded sadly.

“Hey, we will find a cure, I promise,” Delphine said.

“Okay,” Cosima said. She did hoped that Delphine was right, an uncomfortable knot in her stomach told the clone she was not. “I’m tired. Will you come to bed with me?”

“Yes please,” Delphine smiled, and allowed Cosima to pull her to her feet.

Without hesitating, Cosima dragged Delphine to the bedroom, turning the lights off as they went.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Il n'est pire aveugle que celui qui ne veut pas voir._ = There are none so blind as those who do not see.  
>  Merci French_clone for making sure I used that correctly!


	28. Delphine +61

It was early. The sun had not yet risen, but would do so soon. The office was still fairly quiet, most of Delphine’s colleagues, or perhaps subordinates would be a better word, would show up in the next hour.

Delphine headed to her office. She was swinging her bag from her arm, and her coat hung open. She was in a good mood, which was not a very common occurrence for her while entering the institute. She had not smiled like this since long before she had moved to Canada, it must have been while they were living carefree in San Francisco. Or Cosima had been carefree and happy, and thus Delphine had been as well. This morning, Cosima had smiled at her as they woke up together. She had been full of energy, like the Cosima Delphine had fallen for so rapidly when they had first met. And it made Delphine’s heart soar, not with the heavy and troubled love, but with the pure desire she had not even known she was missing. The last months had been nothing but passion to keep Cosima save, forgetting the bubbly person she used to be. And when Delphine had kissed Cosima goodbye this morning, she had been reminded of the lightness of their relationship. 

Now Delphine had a job to do to save Cosima, and make sure they could sometime return to be the people they used to be, full time instead of little stolen moments in the early morning or late at night. The clone had been called by her sister to aid in some Clone Club emergency, which Cosima did not have the time to tell Delphine about when she ran out the door this morning to go to Felix’s loft.

Delphine approached her office. The hallway was empty, but the glass door to her office was ajar. With a frown, Delphine approached carefully. She held her phone ready to call security. Delphine was sure she had locked her office when she had left the building last night. Yet right now someone was in there.

As she approached, she could slowly see into her office. Behind her desk a man she had never seen before was reading through some reports Delphine had left on her desk last night to review this morning. He was wearing an old fashioned pair of glasses, ill fitting suit and had a messy haircut, which was perhaps meant to be professional, but proofed his lack of corporate experience.

Without fear, Delphine walked into her office, putting her phone in her pocket. She made sure that she made plenty of sound opening the door further, and walked with grand purpose.

The stranger looked up from Delphine’s desk. “Good morning, Dr. Cormier,” he said cheerfully, not at all seeming guilty for having been caught in the act of snooping.

“Hello,” Delphine answered cautiously. She waited in front of her desk, standing on the wrong side of her office. She noticed some of her drawers were opened, several of which had been locked.

“I see you are making progress with the cure for the mysterious clone disease.”

Delphine blinked slowly, trying to progress what the stranger was saying. He must have been here for a while, and he was not even remotely afraid of her. “Please get away from my desk,” Delphine said, calmly, but dangerously low. Her jaw was set tight, and gestured stiffly at him to move from her chair.

He got up, and walked unhurriedly away from her seat around the desk. “Alright, you’re the director after all,” the man said, holding his hands up in a mocking surrender.

“Yes,” Delphine said. “And you are?” She did not want to admit she did not know this man, but then again, he had not been invited either. 

The man extended his hand to her. “My name is Ferdinand Chevalier, pleased to meet you,” he grinned confidently. 

Delphine ignored the offered hand. “And what are you doing in my office, going through my files, Mr Chevalier?”

“Oh, I’m just curious,” he shrugged. Without any acclaim to custom or politeness he casually flopped into the empty chair that was standing on the visitor’s side of Delphine’s desk.

Deliberately, trying to calculate her next step, Delphine moved around the desk to her rightful place. She took off her jacket and hung it on its hook, and took her time sitting down. While she scanned the documents lying on her desk, she crossed her ankles. Only when she had seen that nothing truly secret was currently exposed, she calmed down and challenged her visitor. “Curious for what?”

“You don’t like to play games, do you, Dr. Cormier?” Ferdinand said, in a tone, which made it obvious that he enjoyed nothing more than these power games.

“No, I don’t. I’m a busy woman; I have much better things to do than to play games with strangers sneaking into my office,” Delphine said, her voice calm, even though she longed to yell at this arrogant man to get out of her office. “So either tell me why you’re here, or leave me to do my job.”

Ferdinand nodded, he immediately changed attitude, though his grin remained. “Very well. I was send by Topside to investigate the current affairs at DYAD.”

Delphine swallowed. She could barely control this one institute, but if Topside was about to intervene she might lose control very rapidly. “The current affairs?” she asked.

“Yes,” he answered simply, not elaborating as Delphine had hoped.

“And which may those be?”

“Dr. Leekie’s suspicious death, your subsequent swift climb to the top of the institute. The escape of not one, but two test subjects, and a valuable minor,” he summed up, and then almost as an afterthought, he said, “And, of course, Miss Duncan’s very suspicious disappearance.”

“Rachel Duncan has not disappeared,” Delphine retorted. “She’s in this very building.”

Ferdinand shook his head; he was not satisfied so easily. “I… We have not heard a single word from her in over a week.”

“She was injured,” Delphine clarified. There was no reason to tell this stranger what exactly had happened, it was better for the clones if topside remained unaware of the details of what precisely had occurred at the institute in Canada; they would surely relegate Delphine.

“Injured?”

Delphine nodded. She was about to answer him, when her phone, which she had laid on the corner of her desk, buzzed. Delphine glanced at the screen, it was Cosima, who she had seen barely an hour ago; Delphine had more urgent matters on her mind. “Yes, injured,” Delphine said impatiently while she silenced her phone. She’d call back later, during her lunch break when she had time for the clone.

“I see,” Ferdinand pondered. He cleaned his glasses with a corner of his shirt.

“As for your other concerns, I assure you there’s nothing to be alarmed about,” Delphine told him. “Aldous passed away after a heart attack, after which miss Duncan herself asked me to step in, you can confirm this with her.” 

“Trust me I will,” he answered quickly.

Delphine folded her arms, wishing she could get rid of this guy already. She was already late to a meeting. “Very well.”

“And the escapees?”

“I saw one of them less than an hour ago,” Delphine said. She had seen Sarah and Kira yesterday, however for their own safety this information was better kept hidden from Topside. Her relationship with Cosima was too obvious, and Cosima wanted it that way, but the child was vulnerable.

Ferdinand guessed, “Miss Niehaus.”

“Indeed.”

“I have been briefed about your improper relationship with her,” he smirked at her.

Delphine’s heart skipped a beat. “Improper? What is that supposed to mean?” To which part of their relationship was he referring, Delphine panicked briefly. She chewed on her lip, waiting for his answer.

“It is unprofessional for a doctor, let alone the director, to be involved with her subject. Your emotional involvement and dependence puts our entire organisation at risk.”

Somehow, Delphine felt relieved. She had known this, and part of her agreed with him. Yet, due to the nature of the entire clone project, she felt the circumstances were exceptional, and the rules were being broken on all ends on this experiment. Her personal emotional involvement did not even matter anymore, on a larger scale. “I assure you, Mr Chevalier, I am very well capable of making the right decisions for this entire project, for all of the clones,” she countered. And then impatiently she added, “And that said, I have a meeting and your presence here was neither announced nor is it convenient for me right at this moment, so if I will refer to you Dr. Nealon for further questions, I have to go.”

She rose from her seat, waiting for Ferdinand to do the same. Gathering a few things, she escorted him outside her office and made sure to lock her door extra obviously.

\---

It was long past noon. Delphine had just finished three back-to-back meetings, each more frustratingly bureaucratic than the next. She was long overdue for a lunch break, and some time alone so she could catch up with her inbox and then get some actual work done. As she walked the empty corridors with long strides, most of her colleagues were away to enjoy their lunch, Delphine checked her phone. Cosima had called twice more, but left no texts. That was unusual.

With a deep frown, Delphine pressed the call button without looking where she was going. She wanted to get to her office, so she would be able to talk to Cosima in private. While she waited for Cosima to pick up, she passed Dr. Nealon’s office. She had not meant to snoop, but his door was open and she recognized a voice, which did not belong to Nealon.

“Rachel requested we proceed with Helsinki,” Ferdinand said.

Delphine stopped in her tracks, standing still right next to the door outside the line of view from the small crack in the door. She hung up on Cosima before her girlfriend could have picked up, and she breathlessly listened to the rest of the conversation between Dr. Nealon and Ferdinand.

“She has mentioned this to me before,” Nealon said. He was standing closer to the door; his voice was much cleared to Delphine. “Do you have the means to follow her instructions?”

Further away, Ferdinand was clearly pacing around the room. “Yes, I have it covered, we will initiate the first phase ASAP, and be finished with this nasty business before midnight,” he responded.

“Very well, I’m glad I don’t have your job, Ferdinand.”

“It is what I do,” the British man answered matter of factly.

Delphine leaned against the wall, confused by what she had just overheard. She was not so sure that Ferdinand was truly from Topside, she had had this feeling since she had first met him this morning. Topside would have announced his visit, and now he was taking orders from Rachel. Delphine did not know what they meant with Helsinki, but they were clearly not referring to the city. Their use of code words was suspicious, and while Delphine hoped they would say more, her phone rang loudly.

 _“Putain,”_ she mumbled, and refused the call from Cosima. She took a few steps away form the door, trying to not look as if she had just been eavesdropping. “Good afternoon, gentlemen,” she said, with a face that might seem surprised at seeing the two men exit from Dr. Nealon’s office so rapidly. 

“Good afternoon…” the two men said in unison, seeming quite sceptical.

Delphine smiled politely at them. “Is everything alright?” she asked.

“Perfect, you do run a tight ship, I shall report to Topside that you are uniquely qualified and I did not encounter any issues,” Ferdinand said.

“Thank you for that,” Delphine answered. “I did mean to ask…” She started, but before she could ask what Helsinki was, Cosima called her again. Irrigated Delphine pushed the red button, and looked up.

“I must go, I have plenty of other things to do,” Ferdinand said, with a knowing glance at Nealon.

Dr. Nealon nodded, and both he and Delphine said goodbye.

“Is there anything you wanted to ask?” Dr. Nealon said, once Ferdinand was out of sight.

Delphine shook her head. “Never mind, it’s not important. Good afternoon,” she said, and did not await an answer. She immediately walked away, going past her office without stopping.

She almost ran towards Rachel’s patient room. Nealon was too strong for Delphine to crack, but Rachel’s mental state was not half of what it used to be, her wits were slow, and she would be easily broken. Something was about to happen, this afternoon, and Delphine was quite sure that she did not want Ferdinand to succeed with whatever Helsinki was.

“Hello again,” Rachel said when Delphine entered her room. She had not even lifted her head off the pillow to see who entered. “This time without your little girlfriend?”

Delphine ignored Rachel’s last comment. She slowly closed the door and locked it behind her. “Hello Rachel,” she said when she stood next to the bed, right where Rachel would be able to see her best. “This time it is personal.”

“I don’t k-know what you’re talking about,” Rachel stammered. She finally lifted her eye to see Delphine standing above her. There was a glimmer of amusement in her eye, and an ever so slight smirk on her mouth.

“I’m sure you know exactly what I mean.”

“N-not a clue,” Rachel said, and lifted a shaky hand in an attempt to dismiss Delphine.

Delphine was stronger, she had a purpose and she would not be dismissed so easily. “What are you planning with Ferdinand?” She demanded.

“Ferdinand?” Rachel shrugged. She turned away, clearly not interested in talking to Delphine.

“Yeah,” Delphine said. “Ferdinand.” She took Rachel’s shoulder and roughly made her look at Delphine. Somewhere deep down the medical professional within her cringed, but she told the doctor at the back of her brain that this was more important.

“I don’t know any F-ferdinand.”

“Don’t lie to me,” Delphine said, squeezing Rachel’s shoulder harshly. “I heard him talking with Alan. What is Helsinki?”

“Helsinki is the capital of Finland,” Rachel answered.

Delphine let go of Rachel’s shoulder. She lifted her hand, hesitantly, and held it over Rachel’s bandaged eye. “Tell me, does it have to do with the clones which disappeared in 2006?” she asked, fearing the answer. When she had just gained the highest official information clearance level, Delphine had searched through all the clones’ files, and had noticed that six clones had died, due to non-medical reasons, in Helsinki nearly ten years ago almost simultaneously. Since there would be no information there that could help Cosima with her illness, Delphine had dismissed it then. When she heard Ferdinand say Helsinki, Delphine had suddenly remembered those files, and panicked.

“You’re not supposed to know about that.”

“What does it mean?” Delphine insisted.

“Topside took a-action on Leda, because they had grown beyond our con-control. Ferdinand put them down, all six of them, with about thirty collateral,” Rachel admitted. Her one eye stared uncomfortably at Delphine’s hand hovering only a centimetre above her bandage. Yet the threat did not make her any less arrogant. “Sarah and her s-sisters have gone too far, they won’t bother us for much longer.”

Delphine gasped. She had known it deep down; Rachel was out to kill her sisters. “Oh, you wicked sister!” Delphine felt the foul anger soar within her. She wanted to hurt Rachel. She wanted her gone. She wanted to run to save Cosima.

Rachel smirked; she saw Delphine’s fury, and intended to make good use of it. “If you’re not careful, Helsinki will swallow you too,” she said.

“I won’t let you harm any of them,” Delphine said. She rested her thumb lightly on Rachel’s eye-patch, making the threat even more obvious. “You’re going to call Ferdinand and tell him you changed your mind.”

“I will do no such thing!” Rachel tried to move away from Delphine.

Delphine held Rachel in place. Ever so gently, she pushed her thumb slightly into the bandage. The soft cotton gave way, and Delphine knew that underneath the raw and empty eye socket would burn and hurt much worse than Delphine had ever hurt anyone, or anything before.

“St- Stop! Stop, Delphine!” Rachel wriggled and screamed underneath Delphine’s hands.

Delphine did not stop. She could feel the pain coming in waves from the clone underneath her, but she knew that this was the life of Cosima, and that of her sisters. She would get the Rachel to stop, to call back Ferdinand. “Come on, you can do better than that,” she said, pushing a bit harder, gritting her teeth against the bile that was rising in her throat. 

“Stop! Please,” Rachel was begging now, but she showed no signs of agreeing to Delphine’s terms.

Delphine swallowed, and she persisted. Gradually, she reduced the pressure a little, it would hurt either way; there was no point in seriously harming Rachel any further than she already was.

“F-Fine,” Rachel yelled. “I’ll tell him to, to stand down! Just stop!” There were tears in her eye, and she was breathing heavily.

“Here you go.” Delphine grimaced at the clone in the bed. She was nauseous, and wanted nothing more than to leave. Instead, she handed Rachel her phone, Ferdinand’s number already dialled. “And don’t’ try any tricks,” she warned Rachel.

Rachel was lying limply in bed, and flinched when Delphine’s hand came close to her eye as she held the phone to her ear. “Ferdinand, change of plans,” Rachel said, and looked at Delphine. When Rachel did not continue to speak, Delphine raised the thumb of her free hand at the clone, which was all the encouragement Rachel needed. “Do no proceed with Hel-Helsinki, stand down.”

On the other end of the line Ferdinand spoke for a moment.

Irritated, Rachel responded, “I don’t care what you think, don’t kill my sisters.”

Again, Ferdinand answered.

Delphine sighed. She was feeling weak and tired. Her hand was shaking; hopefully Rachel would not notice the turmoil within Delphine.

“Yes, we’ll talk l-later.”

“Good clone,” Delphine praised Rachel once she had hung up the phone. “Now, remember. I am in charge, and if you try anything like this again, I’ll make sure that you are terminated yourself.”

Delphine did not wait for an answer from Rachel. She would make sure that for now, nobody but the absolutely necessary medical personnel would see the clone. And they would not speak to her, they would be strictly observed. Rachel was dangerous, and Delphine would not let her harm her sisters. With large steps, Delphine made her way for the door, for a moment she struggled with the lock.

“You’re weak, Delphine,” Rachel said from her bed. “Your personal feelings will be your downfall.”

Delphine glanced over her shoulder. She saw Rachel’s silhouette in the bed; this side of her face covered in bandages. She looked as small and fragile as Delphine felt, though they both knew that neither of the women were small or fragile; they were strong and fierce, and were strangled in a deathly embrace. Neither of them would rest before the other was no longer a danger, but for now, Delphine had won. “Trust me, I’ve already fallen for her…” Delphine told the clone, and shut the door behind her.

With a deep sigh, Delphine leaned against the other side of the door. Her hands were shaking, yet she found her phone in her pocket. Cosima had called, again. There was no time for this, Delphine had to find Ferdinand, to make sure he was following Rachel’s instructions.

\---

Delphine finally entered her office. She could still feel Rachel wriggling underneath her; she could still feel the soft bandage giving way underneath her thumb. Vigorously she rubbed hr hands against each other in an attempt to overpower the disturbing sensation. She was exhausted; emotionally drained. After a long afternoon, she was finally sure Ferdinand would not harm any of the clones. Delphine let her head hang low, the curls in front of her face. She felt sick, but whether that was because she had not eaten since breakfast or because of what she had done today, Delphine did not know. She made her way to the couch standing in the corner of her office.

“Where have you been all day?”

Delphine was not even surprised at the sudden voice anymore. Again, someone was sitting behind her desk, despite the fact that she had locked her door. “Busy,” Delphine mumbled. She looked up at Cosima, suddenly remembering the dozen or so missed calls from her girlfriend today. Tired, she ran her hand though her hair.

“Can’t have been more important than my phone calls,” Cosima said cockily, and swirled around on the office chair. She grinned at Delphine, so she was not mad.

Delphine shrugged. She did not need to argue priorities with Cosima; she had not been running about all day trying to get validation, but in order to keep her promise to Cosima. Tired, Delphine sank down on the couch; she closed her eyes and laid her head back.

“Hey babe,” Cosima said.

Delphine hummed. She heard Cosima stand up from her chair and walk over to the couch. 

The clone sat down next to Delphine and nudged her shoulder. “I got a present for you.”

This made Delphine open her eyes and look at Cosima. She had not expected that from Cosima after today, and despite her fatigue Delphine became curious. 

Her girlfriend held up a Ziploc-bag, filled with what seemed to be a human brain.

“A brain?”

“Yup,” Cosima winked at Delphine. She held out the bag for Delphine to take.

Hesitantly, Delphine took hold of the firm yet squishy matter. “I’m afraid to ask…”

“It’s one of the Castor boys,” Cosima explained cheerfully. Sarah had told them about the Castor defect, and Delphine had hypothesized that the origin might be in their brains, but she had never asked to investigate one of their brains. Besides, Castor was nowhere near the top of her list of priorities, nor should it be on Cosima’s agenda. With open mouth, Delphine stared at the brain in her hands.

“Where did you get that?” she asked Cosima, without tearing away her gaze from the human remains. “No, why did you get that?” 

“Castor attacked Sarah and Kira tonight. And then one of them died,” Cosima was rambling, and gestured wildly, almost knocking the brain out of Delphine’s hands. “No, it wasn’t Sarah who killed him, it was his brother. He was totally glitching. Apparently it was totally creepy, then his brother shot him and escaped. So Sarah and Felix had this corpse, and I figured you might like to look at his brain. But then you weren’t picking up your phone. So I thought: it Delphine doesn’t come to the brain, the brain comes to Delphine.”

“Wow,” Delphine said. “You shouldn’t have.”

Cosima giggled, it lightened Delphine’s heavy heart after a tiresome day. “Maybe it might help us understand Leda too, I know you’re busy, but I could look into it,” Cosima explained.

“You’re sick,” Delphine stated to argue.

“I feel okay,” Cosima interjected. “I can totes…” she was interrupted by her phone ringing, and with an apologetic look she picked up. “Hey, Fee,” she answered the phone.

On the other side of the line Felix said something, which made Cosima look incredibly concerned. Delphine watched her closely.

“Oh no!” Cosima exclaimed.

Again, Felix spoke for a moment. Delphine waited patiently.

“Yeah, we’ll be there as soon as possible,” Cosima said, and then after a while, “Of course, bye.” She put away the phone and got up. “Gracie collapsed; she had some sort of seizure. Felix wants your help,” she explained as she was already putting her coat on.

Delphine nodded. There was truly no rest for her today. She found her coat where she had left it this morning, and collected a medical bag from the cupboard next to her desk. Awkwardly she stood with the bag and her coat in one hand, and the brain her other hand. She shook her head, and said, “Let me put this away first.”


	29. Cosima +61

They were standing around the crowded living room. Mrs S was sitting on the chair, looking terribly concerned. Standing behind her, slightly more relaxed was Benjamin. On the floor next to them, Kira was playing quietly. Helena was sitting in the kitchen, watching the situation unfold and eating anything and everything out of Siobhan’s fridge. Sarah was leaning against the windowsill behind the couch, and Felix was standing besides her breathing down Delphine’s neck. 

Delphine was sitting on the edge of the coffee table, taking Gracie’s pulse. She was counting silently. Her medical equipment was mostly still in her bag next to her feet. Judging by the look on Dr. Cormier’s face, Gracie would be just fine in due time. Cosima was more curious as to what had brought on the sudden ailment of the runaway bride. According to Felix she had been just fine before suddenly collapsing in agony. 

“Will she be alright?” Kira asked her mother. She was drawing crosses on her dolls’ eyelids with a red marker. 

Sarah jolted slightly; she had been focussed on the people on the couch. More than one person in the room appeared to be surprised that the child was still in the room. In all the confusion, nobody had noticed that her bedtime had come and gone. “You should be asleep, Monkey.”

“I’ll take her,” Cosima offered. She would be glad to be out of the cramped room. Delphine was more than capable of handling the sick girl by herself, without seven people breathing down her neck. “Come on, Kiddo,” she said, extending her hand to Kira.

The girl reluctantly got up and preceded Cosima upstairs. “Will you read me a story?”

“Of course I’ll read you a story,” Cosima answered, and pushed Kira to walk a little faster.

\---

“Delphine!” Cosima yelled. She ran down the stairs, nearly tripping halfway. After she had caught herself on the railing, she continued downstairs just as fast. “Delphine!” she yelled again as she tumbled into the living room.

Delphine was sitting on the couch, clutching a cup of hot tea. While Cosima had been tucking Kira into bed, Delphine and Siobhan had also put Gracie in bed. They had then joined the rest of the group, discussing Castor and their attack on Sarah and Kira this morning. At Cosima’s yelling as she ran down the stairs, Delphine looked up in alarm. “What’s wrong?” she asked, as she got up from her seat.

“Look!” Cosima panted. She handed Delphine the worn book.

Hesitantly, Delphine took the yellowed book from Cosima. “I don’t understand?” Delphine said. She glanced at Cosima, and then finally opened the book. To Cosima’s amusement, Delphine’s eyes grew wide as she saw the scribbles in the book. “What am I looking at?” she wondered out loud, turning the pages slowly, and inspecting each of them.

“Ethan gave this book to Kira,” Cosima told her. Sarah’s child had insisted she read this special book to her as a bedtime story, and thus Cosima had complied. But when she had opened it, she had of course immediately known this was indeed a very special book. It had only taken her seconds to understand what was she was looking at. With a yelp, she had jumped up and ran for Delphine. “He said it was special.”

Sarah tried to see what they were looking at. “Huh, when did he do that?” She asked Cosima, who had completely forgotten there were others in the room besides Delphine and herself.

“He read to her once, I remember. She liked him,” Felix said.

Cosima nodded. It was what Kira had told her when she had asked Cosima to read this story to her. “She asked me to read this bedtime story.”

“Do you think it is…?” Delphine asked. She sank down back on the couch next to Sarah, and continued to skim the pages. Aside from the original story by H. G. Wells, hardly any of it made sense. Some of the graphs and sequences were readable, but not much more understandable than the seemingly random squiggles across the page.

“Oh, I’m sure it is,” Cosima said. She sat down on the armrest, ignoring Siobhan’s irritated expression at her improper use of the couch.

“I don’t understand this. This is obviously some sequence, but which?” Delphine pointed at a seemingly random page. Cosima wrapped her arm around Delphine, leaning into her a little in order to see the page better. On Delphine’s other side, Sarah was also studying the book with great interest. The rest of the room watched them silently. Delphine flipped a couple of pages, she gestured at the strange lines drawn all over the printed text. “And this is pure gibberish. And over here, it’s not even words just random lines.” She sunk into the couch, against Cosima as she became more engrossed into the book.

Cosima looked around for help. Siobhan was sipping her tea, and Benjamin besides her was as silent as ever. Sarah was watching Delphine as she turned the pages.

Felix, on the far end of the couch, finally looked up from his odd angle trying to decipher the mysterious code. He shook his head at Cosima and said, “That bloke was mental.”

“That man was brilliant,” Siobhan told her son sternly.

Sarah shrugged. “Same thing.”

Cosima nudged Delphine. “Do you think we can translate it?” she asked.

Delphine frowned. She thought for a moment, resting the book in her lap. “I doubt it. I see no pattern at all,” she finally said. She laid her hand on Cosima’s knee, and squeezed softly. “But I know who might be able to make sense of this.”

Sarah understood what Delphine meant a little faster than Cosima. “Rachel,” she said, and sighed deeply as she flopped back into the couch cushion.

Cosima nodded. “Alright, another visit to our dear sister it is.”

Delphine’s fingers on Cosima’s knee tensed. “I…” she said, but gave up on the sentence before she had even properly started it.

“What’s wrong?” Cosima asked.

Delphine chewed on her lip, leaving through the book again. “Uhm, I don’t think Rachel will cooperate,” she finally admitted.

Sarah crossed her arms, and straightened her back. “And why is that?” she asked, clearly ready for a fight, as usual. 

Sometimes, Cosima wondered how they could be so different; she who would never harm anyone with anything but words, and then there was Sarah always assuming that she was about to be attacked. And on the other side of the room, Helena, who knew very little beyond violence. It was only one of the small differences between the clones, but Cosima marvelled at her sisters, and had completely forgotten about her recent discovery.

Delphine reminded the clone again of the problem at hand. “I had a…” she said, and hesitated for a moment, “…an argument with her,” she admitted. She bend her head, hiding behind her curls from the hostile looks around the room.

“An argument?” Siobhan asked. She set down her teacup with a loud thud.

Delphine nodded. She let go of Cosima, and folded her hands in her lap across the book.

Cosima scratched her scalp. “What did you argue about?”

Shaking her head, Delphine whispered, “It doesn’t matter, but she won’t be very cooperative, I’m afraid.”

“What shite did you pull to make her that mad?” Sarah asked.

“Hey!” Cosima told her sister, and gave her a stern look. After all this time, Sarah should know to treat her sister’s girlfriend with a little more respect. “What happened?” Cosima asked Delphine in a much more gentle voice.

Delphine lifted her head. “I, uhm. She tried to kill you today,” she admitted. Her hands were toying with the worn cloth on the cover of the book, pulling a thread loose.

Everyone in the room shifted uncomfortably. None of them spoke, but Cosima heard several people gasp and shuffle in their seats as the topic became difficult.

“Me?” Cosima asked.

“No, all of you. She wasn’t very happy when I stopped her.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Cosima asked.

“Everything happened so fast.” Delphine motioned at the medical supplies, still standing besides the couch. She ran her hand through her curls, and yawned. 

For nearly a full minute, it was completely silent in the room. Then, Sarah finally voiced everybody’s thoughts. “Bloody awesome. We need to try and see if she can understand this non-sense either way.”

Around the room, people nodded. Felix spoke first, “Yeah, it’s her cure too. Maybe she doesn’t want to die a slow and painful death by clone disease.” He grinned at Cosima. “No offence, Cosima.”

Cosima smiled back at him. “None taken.” He made a valid point, one she had made to Delphine several times before. “Felix is right, we might as well try,” Cosima said, making up her own mind as she spoke. She got up from her awkward spot at the armrest of the couch, and took two steps from the living room into the hallway.

When nobody followed, Cosima re-entered the main room, pulling on her coat as she spoke, “Anyone coming?”

Delphine put her things in her bag, stuffing the book between her stethoscope and a stash of bandages. She closed it, and asked, “Right now?”

Cosima nodded impatiently. “Sure, why not? We know where she is, right?” 

Sarah and Felix also got up from their seats, following Cosima and Delphine to the car.

\---

“Hey sis,” Sarah said, as soon as she barged into the pale hospital room.

Felix followed right behind her, and stood right next to his sister. “Rise and shine, Rachel,” he said, folding his arms.

Rachel had clearly been asleep before the door opened. She sat up slowly, struggling with herself. “W-What are you doing here?”

Cosima frowned at the two British siblings. She tried a more gentle approach, as she made her way to stand right next to the bed, she kindly said, “We’re here because we need your help.” 

Sarah and Felix groaned.

With a glance at the two behind her, Cosima realized that indeed this was not the most diplomatic way of asking for Rachel’s help. Stubbornly, Cosima continued, “We found this.” She took the book from her bag, and held it up for Rachel to see. “Do you recognize it?”

Rachel’ eye widened. “My b-book,” she stammered, and stuck out her hand in an attempt to grab it.

Cosima grinned, and pulled the book out of reach from the wounded clone. “Yeah, I thought you would.”

“Show her,” Felix said impatiently.

“Chill, I’m getting to it,” Cosima told Felix. She opened the book onto a random page, one with just the original text and a lot of scribbles added by Professor Duncan himself. To Cosima, they seemed entirely random, she was not even sure if they stood for letters, or referred to something in the text. It simply did not make sense. She held the book up for Rachel to see, and asked, “Can you understand this? It’s a cypher, right?”

Rachel stared at the book in silence for a moment; then very slowly she nodded. “Y-yes.”

Sarah promptly said, “Awesome, get to it.” She was impatient. Sarah did not like going to the institute, Cosima was quite sure the tough clone was a little scared.

From her backpack, Cosima retrieved a pencil and a notepad. With Sarah’s help, she adjusted the table so that Rachel could use it to write on. Before handing Rachel the book, Cosima helped Rachel sit up. She adjusted the pillows, and made sure that her sister was comfortable.

Irritated, Rachel took the pencil and pulled the book onto her lap. She ran her fingers along the symbols in a seemingly random pattern. Then, after several minutes, she lifted her head. “Tell me, Cosima, why would I tell you what it says?”

“Uhm…” Cosima glanced at Sarah and Felix for some help.

“Delphine has you locked up here, hasn’t she?” Felix said. “She’s a touch lady, but Cosima here might be able to play on her soft side, and get you out of this place. Assuming what you tell us is helpful, of course,” he spoke. He was now standing besides Cosima, and had put his hand on her shoulder.

Rachel nodded. Without a word, she started writing. Her hand was shaking, and she clearly had trouble trying to make the text readable. Once she had written down two sentences, she dropped the pencil and tried to flip the page in the book.

Quickly, Sarah blocked her. “What’s it say, then? Is it about us?” she asked.

“No.” Cosima had taken the piece of paper. “It’s a nursery rhyme.”

Felix laughed. “What?” he asked, already assuming that Rachel was playing with them.

“In London town we all fell down, and Castor woke from slumber,” Cosima read from the paper. She frowned at Rachel, “That’s not the end of it.” Cosima had expected something scientific, something to describe the cloning process, or to explain the synthetic sequence, not a rhyme about the Castor boys.

Sarah firmly pushed the book back to Rachel. “You need to translate that, cover to cover.” 

Rachel shook her head. “It’s late. I- I’m tired.”

“Not that tired. Continue, and I’ll make sure Delphine let’s you go wherever you want,” Cosima said, she put the notepad back down for Rachel to continue. Until they understood what the rhyme said, Rachel had to continue. Tomorrow, they could do the rest of the book. 

Rachel protested briefly, but overpowered by two of her sisters and Felix, she continued with a disgruntled expression.

“Thank you,” Cosima said. They waited, this time Rachel was a little slower.

“Hello Dr. Nealon, such a coincidence to find you here so late,” Delphine’s voice came suddenly from the hallway. The entire time the three had been visiting Rachel, she had been standing outside, to make sure no-body walked in on them, and because she was afraid Rachel was angry with her. “How are you?” she said, clearly trying to buy the people in the room some time.

Cosima scrambled to gather book and paper from Rachel, and stuffed them into her back without looking at what the clone had written down.

“Don’t tell anyone about this, or I’ll make bloody sure you’ll never see daylight again,” Sarah told Rachel.

One by one, they exited the room as if it was the most normal thing in the world. 

“Hi Dr. Nealon,” Cosima said, grinning sweetly at the older man. She stood next to Delphine, winking subtly at her.

“Hello Doctor,” Felix said. 

Sarah only nodded at him; she remembered him from her time at the institute.

Together, they walked away, leaving a very confused Alan Nealon to stand by himself in the hallway. Hurriedly, they walked out of the building without speaking.

Once they were sitting in the car, Delphine asked, “Tell me; she could translate it, no?”

Cosima grinned at her from the passenger’s seat. “Yeah, totes,” she dug for the piece of paper she had grabbed from the table before they had been forced to leave. By the light of the street lanterns, she read, “In London town we all fell down, and Castor woke from slumber. Find the first, the beast, the cursed. The original has a number.”

“The original,” Sarah said with awe.

“Yeah.”

“Wow,” Delphine said. She was focussed on the road, and clearly confused by the rhyme.

“Then there’s a number,” Cosima informed the rest of the group. And then told Delphine, “We were interrupted before she could continue.”

Delphine nodded silently.

“We can talk to S, maybe she knows what to do,” Felix suggested.

“Yes, Nealon will be watching Rachel very closely now. I don’t know if we will get another chance to talk to her anytime soon,” Delphine agreed as she stopped for a red light.

“Maybe this is enough. We need to search for the original in London. And we have a number, whatever that means…” Cosima hoped that was true, but the information was very limited. She hoped that Delphine was wrong, that they would be able to get the rest translated soon, because she was sure that there was plenty of very interesting information in the book in her bag.

\---

They had once again gathered in Siobhan’s home. Helena had fallen asleep while the rest of the group had been gone, and Benjamin had disappeared, though Cosima was quite sure he was not far away. 

Cosima was sitting next to Delphine, their legs touching, and their shoulders leaning against each other. Delphine seemed tired; she hardly spoke and was still clutching the book Cosima had found earlier. Occasionally, she yawned, it was the only sound she had made since arriving back at the house.

The clone however was much less tired. She was excited that they finally had some sort of a lead, an indication where to go. Finding the original could mean a cure for her and her sisters. Cosima had not been this full of energy since weeks, impatiently she waited while Sarah told her mother what Rachel had told them.

“Right, let’s visit home then,” Siobhan said as soon as Sarah had finished speaking.

Cosima grinned; she had never been to London before.

“Right now?” Sarah asked. Felix looked just as surprized as she did, their expressions nearly identical.

“Tomorrow,” the Irish woman said. She looked at the clock, which showed it was nearly two in the morning. “We need to stay ahead of this, Rachel will have her lackeys in London searching before long.”

Delphine finally spoke. Slowly and deliberately she said, “She won’t, I cut her off from the outside world.”

Sarah rolled her eyes at Delphine’s naivety. “No you haven’t,” she said. “There was a nurse, a guard, and that doctor. Do you really trust them?”

“They’re well paid,” Delphine argued. Cosima could hear the doubt in her girlfriend’s voice. They both knew Sarah made a very valid point; it was saver to assume that Rachel still had connections to the outside world.

“Rachel is wealthier than DYAD,” Felix told Delphine. And then he said to Siobhan. “She definitely has someone in London doing her dirty work by now.”

Siobhan nodded. She checked her phone, making a list already. “Let’s go to bed, it’s very late already. Tomorrow we’ll leave, after Alison’s dinner. I need to get in touch with some old contacts and arrange our trip,” she told the rest of the people in the room after a minute. She got up, and gathered a few dirty cups to take them to the kitchen.

Cosima frowned. “Alison’s dinner?” she asked her sister.

“Yeah, she wants to have all of Clone Club to actually have dinner or something,” Sarah answered. She was clearly amused by the idea, though did not sound completely mocking.

For a moment, Cosima stared at Sarah and Felix. The idea of having a dinner with all of the clones seemed ridiculous to her. They were fighting for their lives, they were being hunted and dying, and their sister invited them to dinner as if there was nothing strange going on in their lives. “Alison lives in a very different world from us,” Cosima said, voicing all of their opinion on their suburban sister’s lack of involvement in the dangers they all faced every day.

Both Sarah and Felix laughed. Delphine smiled only half; she was once again engrossed in the book, with Rachel’s translation next to the page she had translated it from. Cosima realized that soon she would have to physically tear Delphine away from the book to make sure she got a bit of rest.

Sarah followed Cosima’s glace. She got up from her seat, “Oh, and Alison said it’s plus one,” Sarah said, gesturing at Delphine. “Goodnight,” she said, and made her way upstairs to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of you might have noticed that this is the penultimate chapter; next week will the final chapter...


	30. Delphine +62

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear reader, I never care much for leaving non-fic-related notes, especially about my personal life, for I do not think it matters to this fic who I am. That said, as this work has come to an end, I have to express my eternal gratitude to all those who have encouraged me over the past eight months, that goes to every single one of you who read this fic, who left me kudos, and those who took the time to write such kind comments.
> 
> I’d specially like to thank the friends I’ve made along the way. I would not have made it through those eight months alone, and I definitely would not have been able to finish this fic. It might have turned out a bit shorter than anticipated, and it is not even half as good as I had made it up to be when I started it, but it is finished. Despite having had to take several breaks because I was simply too sick and tired, I will forever be proud I managed to finish it either way thanks to the strength you, my dear buddies, gave me. Thank you for listening to my complaining, thank you for telling me it’s okay to take a break, thank you for encouraging me to keep going when I had already given up, and thank you for believing in me when I did not. Thank you… this chapter is for you!

Cosima kissed Delphine’s bare shoulder. Her fingers trailed a loopy and elaborate pattern across Delphine’s chest. Cosima settled even closer to Delphine, and buried her nose into Delphine’s curls. Her breath was hot on Delphine’s neck. “Your phone is buzzing again,” she mumbled.

“Ignore it.” Delphine pulled Cosima a little closer with her right hand, grasping her girlfriend tightly. With her left, she pulled the covers a bit higher to keep them warm.

She had meant to be at work on time this morning, honestly she had. After they had come home late last night to Delphine’s apartment, Cosima and Delphine had gone right to bed. Of course they had not fallen asleep directly. Yet, Delphine had gotten up at seven after only three hours of sleep, and drowsily had taken a shower with the intention of heading to work once she was refreshed.

However, when she had exited the bathroom wrapped in a towel and still not fully awake, Cosima sleeping naked in her bed had been a much more tempting offer than the freshly pressed suit hung from her closet door. Instead of putting the clothes on, Delphine had dropped the towel and slipped back into the warm bed and Cosima’s embrace.

Now the towel was making the carpet damp at the foot of the bed, and Delphine was at least five hours late to work. She did not regret it; after all she had worked plenty of overtime already to justify one morning off. Delphine sighed. She kissed Cosima’s forehead, and then her nose, and then her phone rang again.

“Ugh,” Delphine untangled enough of her limbs from Cosima’s to be able pick up her phone from her nightstand. She turned the sound off, and tossed it back in place. A loud crash made the two women sit up. _“Merde,”_ Delphine said while leaning out of bed to pick up the things that had fallen from the floor. This time, she gently laid her phone down next to her alarm clock. Professor Duncan’s book was taken out of her hands by Cosima before she could put it back in place. 

Cosima sat back into her pillow, leaning against the headboard as she put her glasses on and started looking through the book. The innocent and careless expression on her face from a minute ago had again been replaced with that of intrigue and concern as she tried to make sense of the page Rachel had translated last night. The matching notebook page with the injured clone’s shaky handwriting had been stuck between the pages it referred to.

Delphine looked at her girlfriend for a moment. She smiled, and laid her head down on Cosima’s shoulder so that she could see the pages as well. “What are you thinking?”

“I have no idea.”

“How do you mean?” Delphine glanced up at Cosima, trying to see her face. Her own curls got in her way.

Cosima tucked Delphine’s curls behind her ears. She smiled and kissed Delphine deeply. “I have no idea how Rachel’s translation worked. It seems random, maybe she lied to us,” Cosima explained.

“But this isn’t the kind of lie Rachel would come up with, no?”

Cosima nodded. “No, it’s not. This is too specific,” she closed the book in her lap. “But I don’t think we can crack this code.”

“No. Ethan Duncan was a polymath,” Delphine said. She chewed on her lip, and wished she could have saved the old professor the day he had committed suicide.

“I want to talk to Rachel again. Get her to translate the rest,” Cosima admitted. “There has to be more in there besides a hint for the original.”

“I agree,” Delphine nodded. “But do you think she’ll cooperate again?”

Cosima thought for a moment. She went over their visit to Rachel last night in her head, and the following conversation in Siobhan’s living room. “Maybe,” she said. “We won’t know unless we try.”

“That’s true,” Delphine admitted, and with a mischievous smile she added, “There’s one problem though.”

Cosima frowned at Delphine. “Huh?” she asked, and put the book aside.

“We would need to get out of bed,” Delphine joked. And giggling she pulled Cosima under the covers.

Cosima laughed. She kissed Delphine. Neither of them was in any particularly hurry to get to the institute before lunch.

\---

After an elaborate brunch, and a slow walk with a detour through a local park, Delphine and Cosima finally made it to the DYAD institute. They leisurely wandered through the hallways, Cosima carrying the book and a notepad in her backpack. 

Delphine squeezed Cosima’s hand before she let go of it. She opened the door to Rachel’s patient room for her girlfriend. She was relieved that the door was still open to her pass card; part of her had feared that Dr. Nealon had blocked her access to the room, to Rachel, after having caught the small group with Rachel in the middle of the night. Against her expectations, Delphine followed Cosima into the dimly lit room.

“She’s asleep,” Cosima said. She was already standing at the bed next to Rachel.

Delphine joined her, and looked down at the familiar clone face, partially covered by bandages. “Do you want to wake her up?”

“I don’t know,” Cosima whispered. She was already holding the book in her hands. “She wasn’t happy when we woke her up last night.”

Delphine nodded. She knew Rachel was displeased enough already, forcing her to wake up again to translate might aggravate her beyond fixing and she could stop cooperating all together. And the worst part was that the corporate clone was the only one who could translate the book, it was absolutely vital that she was kept as happy as possible. “We’re not in a hurry right like last night. We can come back later.”

“Yeah, good point,” Cosima answered. Her voice sounded slightly disappointed, but it was hard for Delphine to make out the clone’s face in the near dark. No need to wake her now,” Cosima said, and put the book back in her bag.

“Come,” Delphine whispered, and pulled Cosima towards the exit.

Before they had reached the door, Cosima’s phone rang loudly inside her backpack. “Shit,” Cosima swore, glancing behind her at her still sleeping clone in bed. She took the phone outside the room, and they closed the door behind them before Rachel had shown any signs of having woken up by the loud ringtone. 

Cosima glanced at the screen before she picked up. “Hey Alison. What’s up?” she asked her sister on the other side of the line.

Delphine waited patiently, answering some emails on her own phone in the mean time. She did not listen to Cosima’s conversation; the clone was mostly listening to Alison’s elaborate story anyway. 

“I’ll be there in a bit,” Cosima finally said. “Bye.” She hung up the phone and rolled her eyes at Delphine. “Alison needs some help, she said gesturing wildly. “Something about an overdue payment and I need to help her with the voting thing.”

Delphine smiled at Cosima and nodded understanding. “Okay, do you want to borrow my car?”

“That would be awesome,” Cosima answered. “Thank you.”

“Delphine dug in her pocket for her car keys. She handed them to Cosima. Even though she knew her girlfriend hated driving, she liked the idea of the clone in a car better than on public transport or in a taxi. The chances of someone harming her were smaller. “Text me when you get there, okay?” Delphine asked. She would go with Cosima, but of course she needed to get some work done today.

“Obvs,” Cosima gave Delphine a quick kiss, before getting on the elevator. She waved at Delphine as the doors closed, but then quickly stuck her hand between the doors to keep them from closing. “Oh, I almost forgot: will you try Rachel again in a bit?”

“Sure,” Delphine nodded. She took the precious book from Cosima, making a mental note at the same time to make a scan of it. “I’ll let you know if there’s something interesting.”

“Thank you,” Cosima said. She kissed Delphine again, this time longer. “I’ll see you tonight at Alison’s dinner, okay?”

Delphine swallowed nervously. “Yes,” she said. “I love you.”

“Love you too,” Cosima answered as she finally allowed the elevator doors to close.

\---

After a long afternoon of fulfilling her duties as a director, Delphine put away her papers. The reports from Dr. Nealon on Cosima’s health were promising; the stem-cell treatment seemed to have boosted Cosima’s immune system significantly. Of course, the clone needed another treatment in a month and a permanent cure as soon as possible, but this gave them a bit more time to find the latter.

Delphine picked up the plain brown folder from the corner of her desk as she walked past it. Inside were the book, and some paper and a pencil for Rachel to write down her translations with. She had not found the time to copy all 143 pages of the book, so she was clutching the only copy very tightly while she walked to the patient room.

When Delphine entered the room, Rachel was once again asleep. Delphine hesitated a moment, and then loudly closed the door behind her.

The clone in the bed did not wake immediately up as Delphine had hoped.

Yet, Delphine persisted. She put the folder with the book down on the nightstand and turned the lights on. She looked down at the clone in the bed, wondering how she might wake her up.

Rachel was lying very still, making Delphine wonder if she always slept so perfectly rigid, with her hands on top of the cover as if she was a doll a child had tucked in after playing with it.

Delphine leaned a little closer to Rachel’s face, pondering if she should check the clone’s heartbeat; so still the clone was lying. When she came close enough, Delphine noticed the soft breaths; Rachel was still alive. Something was wrong though, and Delphine was not sure exactly what it was. The fact that the clone always seemed to be sleeping whenever they visited made her suspicious. Delphine glanced down Rachel’s body, and took her wrist to time her pulse. “Rachel?” she asked, hoping to wake the clone. The clone did not move. Delphine noticed the clone’s nails. When would Rachel have had the time to get a manicure between last night and this morning Delphine wondered?

She lifted the hand, and inspected the nails closer. Even if Rachel had had the time and means, this is not the manicure the corporate clone would have chosen, Delphine was sure of it. Before she could figure out what was happening it hit her.

Delphine stumbled to the ground. Her hand covered the sore spot in her face as she stood back up to face the clone. Delphine knew that Rachel was angry with her, but it seemed uncharacteristically violent for the clone to actually hit someone.

In the bed Rachel was suddenly sitting upright, gasping and yelling, “Oh my God!” She was moving about, trying to get out of the bed, but slightly tangled in the sheets. 

Delphine ignored her painful cheek and pushed her hair out of her face. Confused she looked at the clone who was in full panic mode in the bed. She got up and rushed over to Rachel, pushing her down on the bed. “Rachel, please calm down,” she told the clone firmly. 

Rachel did not calm down at all. “Where am I?” she asked Delphine, fighting the doctor’s attempts to keep her in bed. 

Delphine shushed and held her down. Moving so wildly could damage the injured clone’s brain even more. 

Finally, Rachel seemed to give up her fight as she stared at Delphine with one wide set eye. “You’re the doctor from the salon!” she said in an uncharacteristically high-pitched voice.

“What?” Delphine relaxed her grip on the clone’s arms a little. She looked at Rachel’s face, trying to understand the chaotic situation. “What?”

“You’re the family doctor,” said the clone in that same voice, gesturing wildly.

Suddenly Delphine realized; this wasn’t Rachel. How could she not have seen it sooner? Dr. Nealon’s weird behavior, he should have said something about their visit last night, Rachel would never sleep so long and deep, and the elaborate pink manicure. Rachel had somehow performed the ultimate clone switch after they had left last night, and Dr. Nealon was definitely in on it. And in the bed was the poor, innocent beautician. Delphine took a step back and said, “Krystal?”

Now she’d finally been let go, Krystal sat up. “What am I doing here? Why am I here?” She was gesturing wildly, tugging on her hospital gown in her confusion. Delphine tried to calm her down, so she could take a closer look, but the clone would not hold still. “What’s happening? What happened to my eye?” She reached to touch the bandages on her face.

Delphine grabbed her hand. She had no idea how far Dr. Nealon had gone in order to disguise Krystal as Rachel. But the French doctor didn’t put it past him to actually remove the clone’s eye to make her disguise more convincing. They had abducted the innocent clone and sedated her in order to pass her of as Rachel after all. 

Krystal kept asking Delphine what was going on, and what had happened to her eye. 

Delphine wanted nothing more than to figure just that out, but Krystal had to calm down first. “Lie down for me again,” she told the clone firmly. 

“Am I blind?” asked Krystal her in a high-pitched voice, clearly panicking.

“Relax,” tried Delphine.

“Am I blind?” asked Krystal again waving her arms. 

“Just lie down,” Delphine said, pushing the clone back onto the bed. 

The clone was clearly not relaxing. “What happened?”

Delphine looked into her eyes and told her to breathe. “We’re going to look at it okay? Just breathe for me, relax.” Finally the clone seemed to calm down a bit. At least she stopped flailing her arms and trying to get up. This gave the doctor a change to peel back the bandage over her eye. There was a familiar, brown eye looking back at her. Delphine let out a relieved breath and leaned back a little. 

“Oh my God!” Krystal waved her hands in front of her face to check her vision. “Oh my God, I can see.” 

Delphine rolled her eyes in disbelief at the ridiculous situation. “You’re fine.”

“No, I’m not fine! Why do weird things keep happening to me? Why am I here? Where am I?” Krystal looked at Delphine; she was in full panic mode again. “Tell me where I am! Who’s keeping me here?”

“Wait,” Delphine told the clone. She needed a moment to think about what to do, but Krystal’s insistent yelling was not helping her make sense of the situation. Delphine leaned against the bed. She pushed her hair from her face; the struggle with the hysterical clone had dishevelled her curls. Delphine sighed deeply, closing her eyes for a moment to shut the clone out.

“Oh my God, my hair!” Krystal yelled, tearing Delphine out of her moment of peace. “What happened to my hair?” When Delphine opened her eyes, she saw that Krystal was looking at the short bob Rachel usually sported. Someone must have cut and dyed it while she had been sedated.

“It’ll grow back,” Delphine said. She did not have the patience to deal with this right now; Rachel was gone, and with her any chance for translating the book, which was still hidden in the folder on the nightstand. “We need to get you somewhere safe.”

“Where am I?” Krystal asked again.

This time, Delphine pulled up a chair to the bed so she could give Krystal some satisfying explanation that would not involve her in any more danger than she already was.

\---

“Hey, I’ll be a bit late to Alison’s dinner,” Delphine told Cosima as soon as her girlfriend picked up the phone.

“Oh, that’s okay. Sarah is not here yet either,” Cosima answered. “Is everything alright?”

Delphine was walking down the maze that was DYAD’s basement. She knew her way around by now, and she had wanted to hear Cosima’s voice for a moment, it would be a while longer before she would be able to see her again. “No, Rachel is gone,” Delphine admitted the real reason for her call.

For a few seconds it was eerily quiet on the other side of the line. “What do you mean: Rachel is gone?” Cosima finally asked.

“I mean she’s gone, the clone we saw in the hospital bed this morning was not Rachel. I don’t know where she is, but I intend to find out,” Delphine explained nervously. She felt awfully alone in the empty hallways, only lit by flickering fluorescent lights.

“Then who was in the hospital bed this morning?”

“Krystal Goderitch,” Delphine said.

Cosima spoke to someone on the other side of the line, repeating what Delphine had just said. A voice answered, but too muffled for Delphine to hear what they said. “Crap, she was not yet self-aware,” Cosima finally said, turning her attention back to Delphine on the phone. “We didn’t want to involve her in this mess too.”

Delphine nodded despite the fact that Cosima could not see her. She knew this; she had tried her very best to preserve Krystal’s innocent state. “I talked to her. She has some very peculiar theories about what happened to her, I’ll tell you about them tonight. I sort of implied they were true, and then smuggled her out of the institute and to a save place.”

“That’s my girl,” Cosima said with obvious pride in her voice.

Delphine smiled. Speaking with Cosima comforted her with what she had to do next. She leaned against the wall in the corridor. She had almost reached her destination; it was the same room she had been unable to save Professor Duncan in. The room was right around the corner, but Delphine preferred to wait here and wrap up her conversation with her girlfriend first.

“What’s wrong Delphine?”

Cosima’s obvious concern for her made Delphine smile again. Her girlfriend knew that something was wrong with her before she had told her. Delphine bit away her smile, gathering her thoughts before she expressed her main concern to Cosima, “I don’t know how Rachel escaped. She wasn’t mobile yet, and she was locked up with barely any outside contact. Someone from the inside must have helped her.”

“Yeah, obvs,” Cosima answered immediately. “Any idea who?”

Delphine sighed. “Yes, I have an idea. Which is why I’ll be a bit late, I’m sorry.”

“Hey, don’t apologize,” Cosima told her. Delphine heard her walking about, it seemed to her as if Cosima left a room to go outside. Perhaps to avoid the noise of other people’s conversation in the room. “Can I help you?” Cosima asked.

“No, I’ll be there as soon as possible,” Delphine answered. What she was about to do would be easier without Cosima there. “Save me a plate?”

“Of course. I’ll tell the others about this, okay?”

“Yes, okay.” Delphine sighed deeply, staring at the door in front of her. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Be safe, Delphine,” Cosima said.

“Always,” Delphine said. What she was about to do was not that dangerous, it was simply uncomfortable. “See you soon, ma chérie,” she promised before she hung up.

Delphine straightened her jacked, and then pushed her shoulders back making herself as tall as possible. She made up her mind and took the first step towards the door. The sooner she did this, the quicker she would be done with it, Delphine reminded herself. And the quicker she would be done with it, the faster she would be with Cosima. With a small shake of her head, Delphine recalled that this morning she had been nervous for the Clone Club dinner, now she wanted nothing more than to be there already.

She stuffed her phone into her briefcase next to the folder with the book, which Delphine was still too afraid to let out of her sight. She took the files she had collected on Rachel in the past hour out of the briefcase and made her way to the prisoner’s room with large strides and a grim face.

From a distance, she could see Dr. Nealon sitting on a chair in the middle of the room. Two guards were waiting next to him. When they saw Delphine approach they moved out of the room to wait in front of the door.

Delphine placed her briefcase on the table and turned towards Dr. Nealon. Not looking at him, but at the papers in her hand, she said, “We know Rachel flew to Austria as Krystal Goderitch. She took a car to Innsbruck, was admitted to a private hospital…” only then she looked at the man sitting in front of her, “… and disappeared.”

Despite his precarious position, Dr. Nealon did not even remotely seem uncomfortable. He looked up at Delphine and said, “You’ll never understand anything, Delphine, unless you adjust your frame.”

His condescending statement made Delphine furious. She threw the papers on the table, next to her briefcase and tried to contain herself. Instead of yelling at him, she told him in a controlled voice, “Tell me who you work with.”

“Turn on the screen,” he said with a mischievous grin. When Delphine hesitated, he said, “You won’t be disappointed.”

Assuming that there would be no harm in taking a look at whatever he wanted to show her, Delphine turned back to the table and picked up the remote. She pressed the on button. 

A large room was displayed on the wall behind Dr. Nealon, in the room a distressed clone in a wheelchair was calling out in a familiar posh British accent. “Where am I? Who’s keeping me here?” Rachel yelled, wheeling around the room. 

Dr. Nealon triumphantly observed Delphine’s reaction. “We were there from the very beginning.” In the background Rachel continued to shout. “Topside pursues its profits, the military pursues its weapons. We steer it all from within,” he continued.

“Neolution,” Delphine sighed. She should have known from the start.

The man tied in the chair nodded almost unnoticeable.

“Neolution is nothing but pop-science. I did my time with Aldous,” Delphine told him. As she spoke, Delphine knew it was not true. Neolution was everywhere; they had a plan, if only Delphine knew what it was.

“Leekie was a useful face for seeding ideas, but we run far deeper than that. We’ve infiltrated and maneuvered all the players in this experiment since day one. Castor and Leda are our Adam and Eve,” he spoke triumphantly. For some reason, Dr. Nealon was not even remotely worried about sharing this information with Delphine, and it worried her. His confidence scared her. “Soon, Delphine, Topside will unknowingly deliver the genome right into our waiting hands.”

He had confirmed Delphine’s suspicions; Neolution wanted the complete genome, and probably the original too. But why, Delphine still had no idea as to what Neolution’s intentions were. “To what end, she asked?” wondering if Rachel had told him what she had read in her father’s book.

“Wherever you think the science is at, I guarantee you’re wrong,” he cryptically said, not answering her question at all.

Delphine tried her very best to appear intimidating to Dr. Nealon, but he knew her too well, and was obviously not impressed by the show she put up for him. Leaning close to him, Delphine whispered, “I don’t believe you.”

Without skipping a beat, Dr. Nealon said, “We have a place for you. It’s a one time offer.”

Delphine scoffed. “You’re finished,” she told him as she turned and walked towards the door. Looking out into the corridor she called for the guards.

They had disappeared. She had instructed them to wait outside the room, but they were not there. Before she could call them again, something moved behind her. Delphine tried to turn around, but she was pressed on the table with his hands wrapped around her neck before she could react.

As she fought to get his heavy weight off her, Delphine wondered again where the guards had gone. She struggled with the heavier man; her position was awkward and she could not get a grip anywhere to push him off her. She noticed the blood on his face and wondered when she had hurt him to make him bleed that profoundly.

Scared, Delphine noticed her vision going black at the edges of her view. Her brain was starting to go oxygen deprived; he was really cutting off her air supply. Delphine let go of Nealon’s shoulders. She gave up on pushing him off. Struggling to get her hand between her own chest and Dr. Nealon’s, she found the grip of the gun. She didn’t have time to aim properly, but he was so awfully close, it didn’t matter.

As soon as her finger pulled the trigger, he flung back. Dr. Nealon was lying flat on the ground. Still alive, but he was clearly dying. 

Her heart beating fast, Delphine scrambled to get up rapidly and aimed the gun at the man on the floor. She took a few deep breaths, pushed her hair back and wiped the blood from her face. Slowly, she walked closer to Nealon. Her knees felt feeble; she thought she might collapse in her high heels. Delphine noticed the roughness of her own breaths, and her heart pounding in her chest. Shaking, she kept the gun aimed at Nealon. 

He looked at her, following her movement with his eyes. Something moved between his lips, and Delphine thought at first it was his tongue. “You won’t live till morning,” he said, clearly struggling with speaking. His took two more laboured breaths, and then stopped completely. He had died. 

Delphine kneeled next to him, trying to remain calm. His blood was still warm on her cheeks. She checked for a pulse, and found none. Then, slowly and this time without turning her back to him, Delphine retrieved the small medical kit from her briefcase.

She retrieved the thing, still wriggling from Nealon’s mouth and inspected it closely. The maggot made her shiver even worse than the dead man on the floor did. Delphine put it in a test tube and stuffed it with her papers and the gun in her briefcase.

Before she left the room, she took one last look at the corpse. Neolution must have bribed the guards, Delphine realized. They had not chained Dr. Nealon as she had so specifically requested and he had prepared a live stream of Rachel.

Her breath was still painfully laboured as she made her way down the hall to the nearest bathroom. Delphine longed above all to wash the blood from her face.

\---

It was dark and raining, Delphine was over an hour late. She had washed the blood away, and changed into a clean blouse, the one she had been wearing had some unremovable stains. She sat in a borrowed company car in front the soap store, part of her wanted to go inside and find some comfort in the company, another part of her was growing anxious again at having to socialise with these strangers all night. They still did not completely trust Delphine, and the French doctor could not blame them. She wished Cosima would come outside, that they could go home together, and Delphine would be able to crawl into her girlfriend’s embrace.

Instead, she got out of the car, bringing her briefcase with her. She still had the book with her, having checked every fifteen minutes whether it was still there. It was not very useful without Rachel, but maybe they would be able to find her back. Next to it was the test tube with the thing that had crawled out of Nealon’s dead mouth. It was still moving.

The door to the soap store was not locked. Delphine pushed inside quickly to get out of the rain. In the main store room, between the pink soaps and purple bubbles pushed to the side stood a large table filled with food. Four identical women, and four completely different people were seated around it. They were all too involved in their conversations to notice Delphine coming into the room, except for Cosima. The American clone locked eyes with Delphine across the table. She had been talking with Felix to her right, but the chair to her left was empty. She smiled at Delphine, pulling the chair a little back in invitation.

Delphine walked around the table, saying hello to Sarah and Siobhan as they greeted her in between their conversation. Delphine took her coat of and laid it on the till with her briefcase and tiredly sat down next to Cosima. She suddenly realized that she was starving.

“Hey, you came,” Cosima said with a sweet grin. She looked well; hopeful and happy.

“Of course.” Delphine laid her hand on the back of Cosima’s chair, not entirely sure how intimate they were allowed to be in this company. Nobody seemed to notice them, but Delphine was anxious to make a good impression, and she was already much later than dinner had started. “I’m sorry I’m a bit late.”

“That’s okay, you didn’t miss much,” Alison’s husband, Delphine had forgotten his name, interjected. He leaned across Delphine to fill her glass with wine.

Delphine thanked him, and took a long drink. 

“Did you find Rachel?” Cosima asked her.

“Not really.” Delphine sighed. “I’ll tell you all in a bit, no need to ruin the mood for Alison,” she told Cosima, with a glance at the Canadian clone who was giggling and eating without a worry in the world.

Cosima nodded. “Yeah, good idea,” she said, and leaned into Delphine to give her a quick kiss on her lip. As she pulled back, she glanced at Delphine’s neck and whispered, “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

With a mischievous grin, Cosima whispered very softly, “Did I give you a hickey this morning? You have bruises here.” The clone gestured at Delphine’s neck.

Delphine swallowed, her neck was still sore. She should not be so surprised that there were marks upon it. “No, I think it’s from Nealon,” she admitted. Delphine had hoped not have to tell Cosima about their struggle until after dinner, but her girlfriend was too observant.

“Dr. Nealon gave you hickeys?” Cosima asked, her eyes wide behind her glasses.

A cold shiver ran down Delphine’s spine and she cringed. “No,” she said, slightly nauseated at the idea alone. She took a long drink from her wine, washing away the foul taste.

“It doesn’t look like a hickey. More like actual bruises,” Cosima observed. She looked closely at Delphine, first her neck and then stared in her eyes. “Why do you have a bruised neck, Delphine?”

“He tried to strangle me,” Delphine admitted quietly. Her hands were shaking around her glass.

“What?” Cosima took Delphine’s hands in her own, forcing her to put the glass down. “Please tell me you’re kidding?”

Delphine could only shake her head.

“I’ll kill that bastard,” Cosima bravely stated.

The rest of the room was still wrapped in their own conversations. Sarah, Siobhan and Art seemed to have a very serious discussion. Felix and Helena were laughing loudly, and Alison and her husband were wrapped up in each other. None of them noticed the conversation the two women were having at the corner of the table.

“No need,” Delphine smiled at Cosima’s nearly comical dedication. “He’s already gone.”

Cosima frowned at the vague statement, but before she could ask what Delphine meant, Sarah interjected with a toast. 

“To Beth,” the British clone said. “For giving us all her strength.”

“To Beth,” each member of the small group repeated.

Cosima’s smiled sadly at the mention of her deceased sister. She drank deep from her water; after all she could not drink alcohol with her medications, and sat back down next to Delphine.

They did not get their chance to return to the topic of Nealon or the disappearance of Rachel during that dinner. Alison insisted on giving a speech, and Felix pulled Cosima into another conversation. Delphine was contented to simply eat and chat a little with Alison. The immaculate housewife, who had cooked an amazing meal as Delphine told her at least three times, turned out the be interesting beyond Delphine’s expectations. Throughout the entire meal including the dessert, Cosima’s hand rested on Delphine’s back. Delphine forgot she had been worried about Rachel, the man she had just killed, and the idea that she had been nervous at all for tonight; for having to spend it conversing with Cosima’s family, seemed silly to her now.

They were leaning back after a long meal. It must have grown quite late, but nobody was ready to leave yet. It must have been the first worry free evening for most of them. Helena was telling a funny story, she was the only person in the room who was not drowsy and tired, or so it seemed. 

Delphine felt Cosima’s hand toy with a curl on the back of her neck, and she felt safe. Tired and satisfied, Delphine watched the clones and their family interact. She caught Siobhan’s glance from across the table, and smiled at her. They must be thinking the same; how similar these four women were without being even aware; similar yet completely different.

Delphine was shaken out of her thoughts by her phone ringing loudly. Leaning back, she pulled her coat a little closer and dug her phone out of her pocket. The number on the screen was unrecognizable, so Delphine ignored the call. When it was silent again, she laid it down on the table, this time with the sound off. The French doctor apologized, and once again got wrapped up in the stories of the people around her.

Again, her phone rang. Again, Delphine ignored the unidentified caller. After the third time, Cosima told her to pick up.

Irritated, Delphine pressed the green button. _“Allô?”_

“Delphine Cormier,” an unfamiliar female voice sounded on the other side. The strong North European accent warped Delphine’s name.

“This is she,” Delphine answered.

Cosima was observing her with a frown. She could probably hear the person on the other side since she was sitting very close to Delphine. 

After a silent moment, the woman on the other side of the line continued, “My name is M.K. I knew Beth. Neolution knows where you are.”

Delphine felt her mouth drop. She had no idea who M.K. was, but there was something in the voice that seemed familiar to her.

“They’re coming for you.”

Cosima was gripping her knee tightly, her knuckles white. It was obvious that she had heard the person on the other side speaking. The rest of the people around the room were all silent now, watching Delphine who felt all the blood drain from her face. 

She had forgotten about Nealon’s final words, but now they came flooding back. Neolution is coming for you. You won’t live till morning. Delphine’s hands were shaking as she laid it on top of Cosima’s hand. “How do you know that?”

“Listen to me, Delphine. You need to run,” M.K. said, “right now.” And she hung up.

Delphine felt oddly clear headed. She put her phone back into her pocket, and finished her glass of wine in one big gulp. “I have to go,” she told Cosima.

Each faces were staring at Delphine, none of them understanding what had happened, except maybe Cosima for the glimpses of the phone call she had overheard.

“Who was that?” Cosima asked Delphine.

“Another clone. Someone who knew Beth,” Delphine told her. “Neolution is after me, Cosima. This time, they won’t take prisoners.” Delphine believed without a doubt that the caller had been serious, and though she did not know whom M.K. might be, and the accent had been hard to distinguish, the voice was unmistakably that of one of the Leda clones.

“Oh,” Cosima stammered. Her eyes were wide behind her glasses.

“What about DYAD, you’re the director after all?” Sarah asked, suggesting that Delphine took refuge with the very company that had tried to kill nearly everyone in the room.

“Not after today,” Delphine shook her head. She stood up, and started pulling her coat on. “It’s a long story. Please find the original, and be safe. We’ll be in touch.”

Cosima shifted in her seat. She exchanged a glance with Sarah, and scratched her dreadlocks trying to make sense of the sudden change in mood. 

“Thank you for a lovely dinner,” Delphine told Alison. “Good night,” she said to the rest of the Clone Club with a firm nod. She hoped they would be able to find the original. with their DNA a cure for Cosima might be possible even without DYAD’s resources. Of all that had happened, the lack of medical resources for a cure for her girlfriend was what bothered her most about running. Yet, Delphine knew as she picked the briefcase up that she was of no use to Cosima if she were dead either. She trusted Siobhan would know how to keep Cosima safe for her.

Cosima stood up to face Delphine.

With a brave smile, for she did not know when she would see her girlfriend again, Delphine ran a hand across Cosima’s jaw, and then gently pulled her closer for a kiss. “Stay safe, okay?” Delphine asked her as she started to walk towards the door.

Somehow, Cosima reacted very quickly. “Bullshit, I’m coming with you,” Cosima stated firmly. She grasped Delphine by the arm, and pulled her closer.

Delphine’s mouth dropped. She should have known that she would not be running from Neolution all by herself in the dark of the night. A slow glow of relief washed over Delphine and they said goodbye again. She grabbed firm hold of the briefcase, and followed Cosima outside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PS: I never used to write, and having done it so intensively for the past year and a half, I cannot imagine stopping now. Originally this story was supposed to have three parts, two of which are now finished. While I would like to continue writing the third part, I do not know if you are even interested in it; this second part is clearly not as good as the first. Perhaps I shall continue to write for myself instead. Either way, feedback is very much welcome. I would love to hear your honest opinions, and hopefully some constructive criticism on anything and everything at all. Whether you comment(ed) or not: thank you for reading this fic and I hope to see you again someday.


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